You Belong With Me
by liveinlove95
Summary: Nalex/Nelena. I've always been here, Nate. Right here. All along. You're just too blind to see that. And you don't understand that you made me feel alone and empty; waiting for you to love me back. Have you ever thought, just maybe, you belong with me?
1. This Heart, It Beats, Beats for Only You

**So you guys wanted more, well here it is! The first chapter of my Nalex/Nelena story, called "You Belong With Me". For those of you who just read about this, read my one-shot version of it. It's called "Why Can't You See?" It's like the overall summary version of it, I guess. But the oneshot has a kind of cliffy in the end. Enjoy!!! =D**

**Thank you so much to those who reviewed including:**

**- williamswheelbarrel (Love ya Katie!)**

**- Living The Dream Baby**

**- GreenDemonAngel (she added the one-shot and me to her favorites list too)**

**- TwilightFan59**

**- jdsmiles12**

**- annnH.**

**- evershort (she added me to her author subscription list and the oneshot to her subscriptions list too, as well as favorite it the one-shot)**

**- Kazoodle (she added me as a favorite author and added the oneshot to her subscriptions list too)**

**- camirae **

**- xxHeadInTheStarsxx (she added the one-shot to her favorites list!)**

**and stupidchild.x3 for adding me to her/his story alert list.**

**You guys might remember some of the lines from the one-shot version throughout the story. Just makes it much easier for meh. =D**

**Oh, I just realized if any of the people who added me to sumthing like as a favorite, and I said _she_ and you are actually a _he, _or vice versa while I did a little mini- shoutout, I'm really sorry about that! I just wrote this whole shoutout part right now, and I JUST got 10 reviews! So I can't wait! yay!! haha ok so just so you know-yes, I do talk a lot-I'm gonna try to incorporate a different set of lyrics into each chapter. Except this one, I just started writing it, and it's just a little kind of flashback and filler on how she Alex fell in love w/ Nate. I don't really have it all planned out, but I'll go along with the song. haha the last time I had a fanfiction story (which you can find on YouTube) turned out pretty well, even if I didn't know what the plot was. Okay, I'll admit, the dramatic parts were amazing to me! ok I'll shut up so you guys can R&R! haha 'increase the peace'!!!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story, or movie names, or the songs in this chapter, or anything else besides the plot!**

Selena G. - Alex Russo

Nick J. – Nate Grey

Demi L. – Mitchie Munroe

Joe J. – Shane Grey

David D. (Alex's Dad) – Jerry Russo

Maria C. Barrera (Alex's mom) – Theresa Russo

Jake T. Austin - Max Russo

David H. – Justin Wheeler {Lolz! idk what to use for his last name. I just remembered his character Wheeze in Dadnapped, so I kinda changed it.}

* * *

Chapter 1:This Heart, It Beats, Beats for Only You

Meet Nate Grey and Alex Russo. They're two best friends, practically brother and sister. But to Alex, they were more. She thought that they were meant to be together. So did everyone else, their friends, and their parents. Even their teachers or classmates or neighbors they didn't even talk to. To Nate, that's exactly what he thought of Alex. Just a sister and a friend. Never more.

-FTSK rocks-

Everyone in school knew that Nate was the biggest flirt. But he wasn't a pervert. Sure, maybe you'd see him checking a girl out, but he was really very down-to-earth. That's the only reason the girls went out with him. Majority of the other boys were, okay, but they just looked for a girl's looks. They never looked at her her heart. The one person who knew this the most was, of course, Alex. She knew him like the back of her hand. Ask her any question about him, she'd answer without hesitation. She knew him even more than she knew herself. In school, all the girls thought it was a big deal if you're lucky to go out with him. Alex felt different than others, she knew that you'd be lucky to even be within 100 feet of Nate.

-FTSK rocks-

Growing up, the two would share smoothies, take walks on their secret beach, escape to the park at midnight, bike together, everything. Nate and Alex were joined at the hip, even when they had their own boyfriends or girlfriends. Nate always treated his girlfriends like princesses. Alex didn't really care about a relationship, of course she was happy by the fact that she was attractive enough to be asked out, but she knew she wasn't in love or something, she was only 12. That is, until Nate shared something with Alex that she'd never expect. And something happened to her that she wouldn't expect or find out until later.

-FTSK rocks-

_Hey Lex. I got a surprise for you. Come to my place around 8:30 and pick up the note under the doormat. I'll see ya soon._

_Love you. Couldn't breathe without you,_

_-Nate_

Alex received a text from Nate right when she came home at about 7:30 on a Friday afternoon after rehearsal for the talent show and helping out with leadership. She was happy because, of course, it was the weekend and she finally could relax. She walked upstairs and into her room. She pulled off her skirt, blouse, headband, bangles, and heels off and sighed in relief. She hated wearing all these clothes, it just wasn't her. She only wore it for the talent show. And she didn't even want to sign up, but Nate pushed her to. He knew how beautiful her voice is. He only wanted to help.

_I swear, my school is so lame. I mean, dress rehearsals every Thursday for the next month and a half? And they expect us to be confident in these freakin' prairie clothes? Well, I just have to wait until the actual day to wear clothes that are 'me'._

She thought. She pulled out her favorite pair of jeans; they were worn out,had holes in them, and had just a tiny bit of flare at the bottom. "But they're so comfy!" Alex said when Mitchie asked about them and poked at the holes. She grabbed a long sleeve black-and-red striped shirt, and layered it with a regular white t-shirt given to her by Nate. It used to be his, but even though it was pretty big for Al, she felt warm and comfy in it.

-FTSK rocks-

She headed downstairs to find Mitch snoring a bit on top of the couch. Alex chuckled softly at her. She loved Mitch so much. They considered each other sisters separated at birth. Mitch helped comfort Alex whenever her parents were yelling or fighting again. Alex couldn't bother Nate at some times; he had his own life, and girlfriends to spend time with. But right now, Alex was currently single, at the worst possible moment ever. Mitch and Alex went through everything together.

-FTSK rocks-

Alex loved everyone she knew. Alex didn't like the fact of losing someone she truly cared about. Max and Alex were pretty close as well. Max was her younger brother, and he looked up to her. It was good for him that she wasn't a girly-girl, so the two would usually play baseball and a whole bunch of sports together, along with Nate, or Mitchie. Whenever Theresa and Jerry fought, Max would run downstairs to Alex, and cry in her arms. He may be a boy and all, but he was just so crushed. After all, he was only 10. Alex would always tell him she'd never leave him.

-FTSK rocks-

Alex was definitely going to be bored right now. She grabbed her acoustic guitar and brought it to the loft, which was in the next room.

She strummed chords and began going through her notebook filled with songs she wrote herself. And some where Nate wrote the melody. She checked which ones went well with her voice.

"I can feel the pressure,

It's getting closer now.

We're better off,

Without you.."

_Nah. I'll try that next year. Definitely rock-ish, but maybe I should try something new this year._

"This time we're not giving up,

Let's make it last forever.

Screaming 'Hallelujah'..

We'll make it last forever.."

"Gahh! I need to not use so much rock...wait. Maybe I can use pop and rock together. Yeah, that's not too bad. Let's see, shall we? Ok Alex, stop talking to yourself."

She started plucking her guitar with a melody she found in the back of her head. She started writing the notes and eventually, it all came together.

"Alright! I finally did it! Gah! I gotta stop doing that!" She pressed a button on her phone and saw it light up to show that the time was 8:20.

_Okay. I better hurry and get to Nate's to find that note._

She ripped the page of her newly-written song out, folded it, and stuffed it into her front left pocket. She grabbed her cell phone and placed it into her right pocket. She took her lanyard necklace with her key on it and placed it around her neck. Mitchie made it especially for her. Mitchie knew that Alex was always on the go, so she gave her something to make her life a little bit easier. Alex walked into the living room, and spotted Mitchie shivering. She covered up Mitchie's cold skin with a thick blanket. She slipped on her black Chuck hi-tops and headed to the Grey's next door. She arrived at the front door and lifted a corner of the mat to reveal a neatly folded paper.

_Hey Lexi. Again. Haha, I see you followed my instructions. Ok, now grab your skateboard in the garage. You know the pin still, right? Ha just kidding, I know you have it implanted in your brain by now. I forgot to tell you I still had your skateboard. Sorry. You don't have to worry about waking anyone up. Frankie's already deep asleep by now. Mom and Dad went out to eat, and Shane and Jason are up playing video games. Don't worry, I already told my parents and yours that we were gonna head out around this time, so don't tell me we might get in trouble. Ride to the mountain lift station and walk up to the front door. Stay there, and wait for the lights to turn on. _

_Be safe on your trip, please, Al._

_-Nate_

Alex walked to the garage and entered the code she knew by heart into the keypad. The lights lit up through the tiny windows of the door, and the whole door came up. Alex found her skateboard laid right in place next to Nate's bike, and grabbed it.

"He-hello?" a voice said. Alex could tell it was Shane walking through the front door, really freaked out.

_Oh no. I thought they were playing video games. Urgh, they're watching a scary movie again. Shane better not piss his pants like last time._

"Shane, it's just me, Allie-bear." She called out to relieve him.

"Oh thank goodness," he said in one breath.

"Yep. I think Nate's showing me another one of his spots. And, is that a bat?" She said, eyeing the wooden tool in his hand.

"Oh, what? No." he said, hiding the bat behind him.

"Ok. Then I guess you aren't gonna be scared if I say, 'OMG! It's Freddy!'" She fake-gasped and shot up her hand in front of her mouth to look surprised.

"WHAT!?! AHH!!" He took the bat out and shot it directly behind him as if the bat was a sword, and started swinging the bat as he ran across the lawn while closing his eyes, but stopped after hearing Alex giggle.

"HA! Don't tell me you and Jason were watching 'Nightmare on Elm Street' again?" She asked while looking up at Shane.

"Pssh. No. I'm just practicing for baseball."

_Wow that was a pretty good excuse, Shane._ He thought to himself. He smiled at the thought that he came up with something that good on the spot, and started smiling like an idiot, and ignoring Alex.

"Ok, then, Shane, I'm gonna go. Tell Jason it's just me before he calls the cops." She said as she placed one foot on her skateboard and pressed a button to close the garage.

"Huh? Oh. Ok, Allie. Bye then." He waved with one hand, still hiding the bat.

She rode away on her skateboard as Shane called after her.

"Be safe, Al!" He yelled.

"Got it, Shane!" She yelled back as she stuck a thumbs-up towards Shane.

-FTSK rocks-

Once she finally arrived at the lift station, she felt a little scared. But then the lights went on and Alex could see Nate and her friend Justin standing by his side.

"Hey Nate! Justin." She greeted.

"Hey Al." Justin replied with a smile.

"Yes! You made it safely." Nate kissed her forehead and brought her over to a car. Alex placed her skateboard in the trunk while Justin went in the driver's seat. Nate lifted Alex into the car, and then sat by her.

-FTSK rocks-

They arrived at a little cliff area, but Justin assured Alex that it was completely safe. After all, his family owned the whole mountain lift station/company/national park.

"Come on, Al." Nate stepped out of the car, and held onto her waist as she stepped down.

"Call me when you're ready to go, guys." Justin called to them before Nate shut the door.

"Kay." Nate replied. He grabbed Alex's hand and lead her closer to the edge of the cliff, and they leaned against the fence. They were strong and sturdy fences. It was just built the year before.

"You're sure this is safe, right?" She questioned.

"Trust me." He replied. This spot was definitely magnificent. They could see every single light in the whole town of Dallas all clashed together as if it was a light show. It took Alex's breath away.

"M'kay." She said."Oh, I need help with a song. I just need you to play the music while I figure out the lyrics."

He groaned, "Lex, do we have to? I really just want to stand here with you in silence."

"Yes, Nate we have to. You were the one who pushed me to sign up for the talent show, and there's no turning back. And I thought you love music."

He opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it and sighed deeply. "Fine." He walked over to a blanket, and patted the spot next to him for her to sit. He brought out his guitar and sat in position while waiting for Alex to walk over. Alex blinked twice as she thought, _How'd I miss that? The blanket, and the guitar?_ She awoke from her trance, pulled out the slightly wrinkled piece of paper, and sat down next to Nate. He scanned over the sheet of notes and started playing the intro and then the basic chords. Alex pressed the record button on the tape player/speaker Nate had set up and began to sing along after a while.

"I am finding out,

That maybe I was wrong.

That I've fallen down,

And I can't do this alone.

Stay with me,

This is what I need, please.

---Nate began to sing along with Al, somehow they thought of the same lyrics at the same time--

Sing us a song, and we'll sing it back to you.

We could sing our own;

But what would it be without you? Oh...

---------

I am nothing now,

And it's been so long.

Since I've heard a sound,

The sound of my only hope.

This time,

I will be listening.

---------

Sing us a song,

And we'll sing it back to you

We could sing our own

But what would it be without you? Oh..

(Nate plays some chords)

This heart, it beats, beats for only you.

This heart, it beats, beats for only you.

This heart, it beats, beats for only you, oh....

This heart, it beats, beats for only you

----Nate and Al both sang to each other while staring into each other's eyes----

My heart is yours

This heart, it beats, beats for only you

My heart is yours,

This heart, it beats, beats for only you.

My heart is yours.

This heart, it beats, beats for only you.

My heart.....

My heart is yours

My heart is yours

My heart is yours

My heart is yours..."

Quickly, the two tried remembering what they both just sang, and Alex wrote it down furiously.

Alex thought that this certain spot wasn't very special. Okay, it was, by the beauty of it, but Alex didn't think it was any different than the other 'special spots' Nate had shown her before. Nate being the school flirt, and like a Prince Charming twin, he was a deep romantic. He'd take his girlfriend to one of his spots and maybe set up a picnic, or play a love song on his iPod speaker he'd brought up to the spot. But what was different about this one, was that the two wrote a song, together. And they both knew it was their song. But what Nate was about to say, Alex didn't expect.

"Don't tell anyone, Lex. About this place, please..." He began to say. She was surprised. She thought at least 5 other girls knew about this spot already because of him. She nodded as she put her paper away into her pocket, and looked over to the sight. She stood up and sighed at the beauty of the sight. Nate watched her, trying to decode her thoughts. He put away his guitar, got up and followed Alex slowly.

"What is it, Allie?" He asked.

"Nothing. It's just...amazing. It's, it's beautiful." She said as she took it all in.

Nate nodded, walked up beside Alex, put his arm around her shoulder and said, "This is my number one spot, and I'm sharing it with you." Alex's eyes were getting tearful. If he didn't want anyone to know about it, and that he'd share it with her, then she MUST be pretty special to him. And to Alex, just those thoughts; that perfect moment looking over the lit town; with Nate's eyes as a warm presence, she felt…..different. She felt loved. And for once in her life, she felt as if she could honestly return that love. They both leaned forward against the fence. She looked into his eyes as they both enjoyed the beautiful silence and she turned back to the city lights.

"And you know, that's not the only thing here that's beautiful." Nate said. He grabbed a blanket and placed it on top of him and wrapped his shoulder around Alex. She turned her head to him.

"What, let me guess, it's you?" She chuckled and smiled.

He chuckled too, "No."

"Oh?" she said and smiled at him.

"Yep. It's you, Lex." He replied and then gave her a tiny peck on the lips.

She smiled and snuggled into his chest while he held her closer to him, as they stared into the lights and then the stars. He placed his chin on top of her head as they hugged each other closely. The thing that Alex didn't expect was the whole thing about Nate keeping this location between them,-and Justin, but that didn't really matter-and by the fact that she started feeling not butterflies, but...something she couldn't explain in her stomach; she felt heaven. She wouldn't understand this until later, but the biggest thing she didn't expect was that she became in love.

* * *

**Ok. So, idk about you guys, but I felt like this was super long! Or maybe it's just me. But I also felt like it was kinda, empty-ish, like there's not enough complex words in it to make it serious enough? Lolz idk... I'm open to ideas for the story! Oh and if you're wondering, all the songs that Alex (and Nate) 'wrote' are being credited! (id want to be in trouble!):**

**Pressure-Paramore-All We Know Is Falling**

**Hallelujah-Paramore-Riot!**

**My Heart-Paramore-All We Know Is Falling**

**(For My Heart, I pictured the Final Riot! version for the chapter. The original uses electrical guitar and drums and all. So try typing up 'My Heart final riot dvd' in YouTube or any acoustic version of it. Goes along much better with the story than original version. =D)**

**OH and I have a question. Do you guys want me to post up links of the outfits that each character wears in each chapter? Like hopes4pam ? ik it seems kinda copy-cattyish but I really want to show their personality through their styles. Ya know?**

**R&R! =D**

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**V**


	2. Killing Me Softly

**Haha here's chapter 2 for you! Hey, that rhymed! Lolz..**

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story, or movie names, or anything else besides the plot!

Chapter 2: Killing Me Softly

_You're on the phone with your girlfriend, she's upset,_

_She's goin' off about somethin' that you said,_

_'Cause she doesn't get your humor like I do._

_

* * *

_

5 years passed, and Nate, Alex, Shane, and Mitchie were still best friends; they're all sixteen going on seventeen now. And Alex was, correction, _is_ still in love with Nate.

"Yeah, that one was pretty hard. Sorry, dude." Alex said when Shane asked her about one of the numbers on the homework from the night before.

"What'd you get, Mitch?"he asked.

"Um, I got....fifty-four point four centimeters squared." She said.

"Huh?"Shane said as he stared at Mitchie. He had no clue what she said, he got too lost in her eyes.

Mitchie giggled at Shane's blank face. She had a huge crush on him, and she always giggled at him. He was always staring at her, and she usually shrugged it off. But she didn't know that he liked her too.

"Hey, Nate? What'd you get?" Alex asked, assuming that Nate was right behind her. He didn't reply. She was confused, he was right behind her a second ago.

"Nate?" She turned around, and saw him staring and drooling somewhere. She turned her head to where he was staring and found Miley strutting down the hall, with her crew following like her little puppies. Her hair was blowing and waving, as if there was a wind machine making it blow like in a movie.

Alex immediately felt sad. Her heart sunk in and she shut her mouth. She observed Nate's look on his face, and how he admired her. Sure, Alex could take it that Nate liked her, a lot. But when it came to actually being there to see it, it really killed her. She took a look at Miley, trying to understand what Nate saw in her. She'd admit it, Miley is pretty, but she hid her face with overboard makeup. She was definitely rich. Alex analyzed what Miley was wearing, hot pink pumps, a white, really, really, short skirt, a hot pink bustier/tube top with a black lace trim at the top. Miley was still a goody-goody,-it was the only way she could receive money-so she covered up a little with a black tank-top. She held a diamond-embedded purse over her shoulder, and was wearing a huge pink diamond&sapphire ring.

Alex glanced down at herself. She was wearing ripped skinny jeans, red&black high-tops Punkrose:G-Funk, a black baseball raglan tee, a black&white checkered cap, a red&white studded belt, and a guitar pick necklace. She opened up Mitch's locker and took a look in the mirror. She noticed her pimples at the top of her forehead; her "natural" look was definitely "natural". She cocked her head to the side a little and examined herself more thoroughly. She took off the baseball cap and tied her hair up in a ponytail, grabbed a bobby pin and pinned down a tiny bun at the top of her head. Mitchie slammed the locker door quickly after Alex finished her little makeover.

"Whoa, Mitch!" Alex gasped.

"What? You don't need to change, Al. You're beautiful inside and out, and THAT'S what's important." She replied innocently.

Alex sighed. "Nate doesn't see that."

"Then he's blind!" Mitchie said as she laughed and smiled.

"Who's blind?" Shane asked, obliviously. He never understood "Malex" talk,but he was pretty good with advice.

"Nate, as always." Alex replied sadly as she glanced over at Nate. Right now, Nate was talking to Miley, as she giggled crazily, and Nate smirking at her.

"Al, I thought we talked about this," he said and then placed a hand on her shoulder, "he'll come around.....eventually."

"Relax, guys, I'm okay." Al said.

"Al..."Mitchie started.

"I'm fine, I swear." She said.

"Okay, okay. But...you don't have to change your looks. Just give Nate time, Al." Mitchie said, soothingly.

"Mitch, I'm not going to turn into one of the school brats just to get a guy." She said.

"He may be just a guy, but to you, he's THE guy. We're just worried, Al. You shouldn't make him love something you're not."Shane said.

"I'm not doing a complete makeover, just a new hairdo, and the 'smoky eye' effect. That's it." She said.

"Okay." Mitchie smiled.

Alex tried to smile at them, but Mitchie and Shane both knew very well it was another fake smile. They couldn't bring it up, no matter how much they hated how she was so sad.

After a short moment of silence, Alex took a deep breath and said, "I think I'm gonna ask him to be my date for Homecoming."

Shane grinned at Alex and Mitchie squealed with delight. The three turned around when they heard Nate humming joyfully.

Nate came over, looking really happy. Alex could tell he was about to jump and scream right then in the middle of the hall. He had an announcement to tell. Alex was happy when she saw that Nate was all cheerful. Whenever he was happy, she was too. Mitchie saw how Alex cheered up so quick when Nate came over, and she smiled at Shane as he smiled back.

"Al, c'mon do it. Ask him. Now's the time." Shane then pushed her a little closer to Nate.

"Um, Nate I have something to say."She began.  
Nate cocked his head to the side a little. "Yeah?" he asked. For a second, Alex thought he was flirting with her.

She replied and said, "Yeah. But, you go first."

"Okay. Well, you guys WON'T believe it!" He said excitedly.

Mitchie giggled and said, "What is it, Nate?"

Nate was so happy, he barely could contain it and started jumping around and making a fool of himself.  
Alex looked around and simply smiled at everyone staring at him. She looked back at Nate and said, "Nate! Just spill! What's got you so worked up?" Nate stopped dancing and smiled at Alex.

"Well, you won't believe who I'm going to Homecoming with!"he began. Alex's smile began to fade away. She hesitated and in the corner of her eyes she could see Mitchie and Shane watching, worried and sad for her.

Alex almost choked out the word, "...Who?" she asked. She was partially relieved that Nate was so happy he wouldn't wonder why she seemed nervous, and by the fact that she was an expert at hiding her feelings for him.

"Miley! Can you believe it? Me, a freshman, going to Homecoming with the most amazing and beautiful girl in school!"

Alex once again hesitated and said, "That's awesome!" On the outside, she was screaming and jumping along with Nate. But on the inside, she was breaking down, dropping to the floor, screaming and sobbing in pain and heartache.

He grabbed her hands and jumped up and down like a girl while screaming, and then ran down the hall yelling,"I'M GOING TO HOMECOMING WITH MILEY STEWART!!!!!!!"

Mitchie hesitated, questioning herself if she should confront Alex right now. She began to walk over to Alex, her heels softly clacking on the granite floor. Shane firmly held Mitchie's shoulders, turned her around and lead her to the cafeteria. Mitchie knew very well what he was saying to her, without actually saying it, "Not now.."

Alex stood speechless at the same spot. When the hall was clear, she found herself staring at the exit she last saw Nate rushed through. She began feeling tiny drops of salty water trickling down her cheeks.

_Miley? I should've known..._

She thought as she walked slowly to the cafeteria. Homecoming was supposed to be tomorrow.

* * *

Soon enough, three days passed by. Alex spent all her time with Shane and Mitchie. They never were bothered that Alex was always with them, even if they were finally together. Yes, they truly did love each other just as much as Alex loves and had always loved Nate, but they didn't have to wait as long as her; they didn't have to wait still. Alex went to Homecoming with a date, which was Justin, but only as friends. That's where Mitchie and Shane finally hooked up. That's what made Alex stay, even if she was hurting so bad at the dance; that's what kept her happy. What made her hurt was that Miley and Nate hooked up too. But now, it was Valentine's Day. Alex felt so left out, all her friends had a boyfriend or a girlfriend. She opened up her locker and found a picture of her and Nate when they were 8 years old.

{Link to pic is in profile!}

She giggled a little at how silly she was. Well, is. She knew Miley would probably look at this picture and say, _"OMG, Nate. You and Alex look so..childish. So immature. I don't want a boyfriend who does stuff like that. Now bring your wallet, lead me to the car, and let's go shopping!"_

Coincidentally, just right when Alex was thinking about Miley and Nate, the valley-girl brat and Alex's best friend came walking down the hall, arm-in-arm. Alex sighed heavily as she leaned against her locker with the door closed, the picture in her hands on top of the stack of books she held closely against her chest.

"Hey Al." Mitch said cheerfully as she nudged Alex with her elbow.

"Hey Mitch." Alex replied,but of course, not as happy as Mitch.

"Why so glum, chum?" Mitchie asked.

"Hmm? Oh! Nothing, nothing." She said and she turned around and grabbed her books out of her locker and shut it closed.

"Al, I know you better than that. C'mon, just...don't let 'Miley the brat' and 'Nate the blind' get to you!" Mitchie said.

"You know, sometimes I hate how you know me so well." Alex said, a little bit happier than she was a few seconds ago.

Mitchie beamed at her, "I know."

"Hey beautiful," Shane said and kissed Mitchie on the cheek.

Mitchie giggled and said, "Hey handsome."

"And that's my cue. I'll see you guys later." Alex mumbled. Them being so lovey-dovey, Alex didn't get a reply.

She began to walk away, when she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders. She turned around to see the love of her life. She smiled, finally being able to talk to him without Miley being around.

"Hey, Naterz." She greeted.

"Hey, Lex."He replied.

"So what's up?" she asked.

"Ok, well, I know we haven't spent a lot of time lately, and I wanna make it up to you."

"And how are you gonna do that?" she smirked a little.

"Um, I have no clue." he said.

"Well, today _is_ the last Friday of the month, and ya know what that means, right?" she said. She very much hoped he would remember.

"F.F.F.?" he questioned.

"Wow. You actually remembered." she said and smiled bigger. To her, "F.F.F." was a big deal, it was a special tradition just for her and Nate. No family or other friends, or boyfriends or girlfriends. "F.F.F" stood for "Funky Film Friday". Every last Friday of the month, they'd watch a movie that sucked so bad, whoever watched it fell asleep 5 minutes into the movie.

"Of course I would. Eight o' clock, my house. Got it?"

"Yeppers like peppers!" she said cheerfully.

He chuckled and replied, "And I love ya like a sista!" he replied back. It was an inside joke between them. No one else really understood it, not even Mitchie.

* * *

"Hey Nate! You got the blankets?" Alex greeted when he opened the door for her.

"Mmhmm. You got the popcorn?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'mma go pop it in the kitchen right now." she said and then walked into the kitchen.

"Okey doke! I'll wait for you before I start the movie!" he called back.

Alex walked into the living room with a bowl of popcorn. She sat down next to Nate and set the bowl between her and Nate. He grabbed the DVD remote and pressed the play button.

The beginning intro started playing, and the narrator's voice came in. "As for me, I have my own special names for them; mom and dad." Then the "Sky High" logo came in. Alex and Nate both knew this was a really cheesy movie. But out of all of the suck-ish movies they'd watched, Alex secretly loved this one. And it was only because of Will and Layla's relationship. Layla was in love with Will, but he fell for his own archenemy. But eventually, they ended up together. Alex loved it so much; she related so much to Layla in her own way. But Layla got her happy ending. Would she too?

About 15 minutes into the movie, Alex was stuck on the projection screen, watching the movie intently and grabbing some popcorn now and then, then munching on it. The rest of the Grey family was upstairs sleeping and using earplugs; they knew just how loud Alex and Nate could get on "F.F.F". But this time, Nate was the only one yelling and having fun. Alex sat very still while Nate was shaking excitedly and shook the couch as well as he waited for Miley to call.

"Hey Miles!" Nate said cheerfully into his house phone.

"No, I'm not busy. Just watching a movie with Alex, but I can still talk." he replied to her on the phone.

_Great. A movie night with interruptions, oh, this is sure fun. You know I'm still here, right Nate?_

_I've always been..._

Alex thought to herself as she chewed on some popcorn and tried focusing on the movie.

30 minutes passed, and Nate was talking to Miley the whole time. He excused himself to the loft after 1o minutes passed from the beginning of the movie, but he could still be heard very well. Alex turned on the subtitles after 15 minutes-she couldn't hear the movie well while Nate was talking with Miley. She was a little uncomfortable while watching the movie. At first, Alex could hear Nate's voice at least a soft mumble in the loft, but after a few more minutes, all she could hear was the movie playing, and the sound of her own munching. He started walking back into the living room, but Alex could hear him softly whispering into his phone.

Alex heard something about a promise ring and a purity ring. She even heard him say the word "virginity". She shrugged it off; but she couldn't help to scoot away from him, as he sat down next to her. But about 5 seconds later, his phone rang again, and he walked to the loft once more. Inside, Alex knew that that moment right then when she scooted away from Nate had somehow represented her relationship with him. As she scooted away from Nate, she felt that in that moment they were drifting apart, and in general as well. And somehow, Nate didn't mind if she scooted away. Before, with his previous girlfriends, when he talked about them, he'd actually notice that Alex got uncomfortable or looked away, so he would get closer to her and hug her and spend more time with her. Not this time.

"Ha, can you believe that! I mean, even _I_ would have known it was cheese!" Nate said to Miley.

Alex heard some of what Miley said back to Nate.

"Nate, he's my brother, I know he's an idiot, but only _I_ can call him that!" Alex heard Miley yell to Nate-Alex could probably even hear Miley from 5 houses down away from the Greys.

_Ugh, can't you just give it a rest, Nate? She'll never get your humor or jokes like I do._

"No, no! I was just joking, Miley! Of course I know that! I never called him an idiot!" Nate said defensively.

_Miley, did ya know your a jerkass?_

Alex thought. She couldn't take it anymore, the movie was getting kind of boring, but also kind of painful-Layla and Will shared a kiss, and Alex knew that would never happen to her. She shrugged off the thought as she looked down at the bowl of popcorn. It was all empty, except for the extra bits of popcorn, and the un-popped kernels, but she figured Nate wouldn't mind. He didn't bother to eat any. She stood up and pressed the stop button on the DVD remote, and the power button for both the T.V. and DVD player. She slid both feet into her slippers and walked over to the loft. She raised one hand and knocked softly on the door.

"Hold up one sec, hun." She heard Nate's voice mumble on the other side of the door.

"Hey Nate, I'm gonna head upstairs. I'll see ya in the morning, kay?"Alex said. Nate didn't reply, he simply nodded, and shut the door closed. He didn't even bother to say a simple "Goodnight, Lex."

She sighed heavily as she began to walk up the stairs, down the hall, and into her bedroom. Alex came over so often, so one day, the Grey family surprised Alex with her own bedroom at their house. The walls were painted in red and black, Alex's favorite color combination. She stood in her room for a few minutes as she looked over her walls covered with pictures of her and Nate.

_At least he didn't completely ignore me. But he doesn't know that he's killing me softly and subconsciously, without even trying..._

After brushing her teeth and washing her face, she crawled into her bed, pulled the covers over her body, and flipped off the light switch. She turned to the side and laid her head on her soft pillow. She fell asleep with one tear marking a spot on her beautiful face.

* * *

**Hmm....I don't know about my writing..I feel like it's 'ehh.' lolz. And if you're wondering..I posted up the links to everyone's outfits, and the pic Alex was looking at-the one of her and Nate when they were 8-during school, in my profile. If you guys have any questions about the story, (no, not about future chapters), include it in your review, along with ideas you have! **

**R&R! =D**

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**V**


	3. My Hero

**Yeah..ik, you're probably thinking... 'yippee! She posted chapter three!' lolz or not..oh wellzers. And I am SO sorry I haven't posted in a while! Ya know..school. And I kinda had writer's block. And this chapter's, I think, about twice longer than usual. Sorry about that.. I don't know about this chapter, I don't know if it's really good.**

**Here we go, enjoy the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story, or anything else besides the plot!**

_New characters:_

Denise J. (Jonas mom) – Denise Grey

Paul Kevin J. (Jonas mom) – Paul Grey

Frankie J. - Frankie Grey

[okay I need your guys' help to come up with new first names for Frankie, Denise, and Paul. I don't want copyright problems to happen.]

Emma Watson - Hermoine G. (I forgot her last name, and no, she doesn't actually appear in the story, it's just to not get you guys confused)

_Fake brands: I don't own these at all! this is just in case you're wondering... =)_

Arturo Votalli = just a brand that I didn't come up with. You might remember it from London Tipton on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.

Rock Out! Magazine = Alternative Press magazine.

Vanessa's Mystery = Victoria's Secret

Chapter 3:

_I'm in my room, it's a typical Tuesday night._

_I'm listenin' to the kinda music she doesn't like;_

_She'll never know your story like I do._

* * *

Alex woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside her window, and the smell of eggs and bacon. She could tell everyone was happy today and in a great mood, well, except for her. But she could still try. She swung her legs over to the side of her bed and sat up. She let out a big yawn and stretched, then sat in her room for a few minutes, trying to wake up. She stood up and made her bed, and walked into the bathroom to wash her face and rinse her mouth. She took her hair brush and brushed out the messy tangles while she walked back in her room and set the brush down on her dresser. She walked out the door and headed downstairs.

----------

"Good morning, Mrs. G."Alex said when she saw her best friend's mom standing at the stove holding a metal spatula in her hand and some almost-cooked sunny-side up eggs on the pan in front of her.

"Good morning, Allie. And hun, I told you already, you can call me Denise." She replied with a smile.

"Right, sorry." Alex smiled sweetly at her.

"No need to be sorry, sweetie."she replied.

Alex jumped up on a stool behind the counter that was behind the stove that Denise was standing at.

"It smells great." Alex said as she watched Denise cooking her happily. Alex loved Denise, Alex considered her like a mom-her real mom wasn't someone to look at for advice, more for fun.

"Thanks, honey. Can you do me a favor and go wake up Nate and Shane? I'm not exactly done cooking breakfast yet. But it's almost noon already, which is just not healthy."She smiled after the last part.

Alex chuckled a little and said, "Sure, Denise."

Alex walked up the stairs quietly. She decided she'd wake up Nate after Shane, but she would try to surprise Shane. She slowly turned Shane's doorknob, and tippy-toed in. She closed the door softly behind her, and jumped on top of Shane's bed and stood up, as it shook the bed pretty hard. It didn't work.

"Hmmph." she grumbled. She thought for a few seconds, trying to find a way to wake him up. She stepped down softly, trying not to wake him up just yet, and stood next to Shane's head and pulled her hair behind her ears.

"Shane? OMG, you will not believe who's waiting outside on your front doorstep right now for you! It's Hermione! OMG OMG OMG!"she whisper-yelled into his ear.

"WHAT!?!" he yelled and quickly got up to look through his window. He turned around when he heard Alex gasp.

"I can NOT believe you! You'd cheat on Mitch?" she asked.

"No! NO! I love Mitchie! Please believe me, Al! I-"He started pleading as he dropped to the floor.

"I was just kidding, dude. No need to freak. Your mom just wanted me to wake you up."she said.

He started grumbling, and got in bed again. "Tell my mom I'll sleep for half an hour more." he grumbled.

"She's cookin' eggs and bacon!"she squealed as she clapped her hands together. She watched as Shane jumped out of bed and out the door, almost pushing her to the ground. By her count, Shane was downstairs before two seconds were over.

"wow. New record.."she muttered. She headed out of the door and quietly walked to Nate's room. His door was covered with every class photo he had so far, up to last year's. She smiled as she took a quick observation over it and then knocked softly on his door.

"Nate?" She shut the door softly behind her, "Nate?"

She then sat down next to him as his back was turned away from her and shook him softly. "Bud, it's time to wake up."

She heard him grumble softly, as if he was talking in his sleep, but Alex saw a smile on his face as well. She knew he was at least half-awake and shook him by his shoulders faster. "Nate, dude, c'mon. You gotta wake up. Na-whoa!"

Suddenly, she felt Nate's arms around her waist, as her body and head lay down next to his. She watched his face to see if he was going to wake up or if he was really still asleep. She saw his goofy, crooked, smile return as he opened his eyes.

"Good mornin'," he greeted.

"It's not morning, but oh well, good morning to you too."She smiled, and started to shift to get away from his hold. Nate pulled her back and pulled her head to his chest.

"I said, 'Good mornin',' I didn't say 'I'm up, I'm up, let's go downstairs now'," he said as he smiled and closed his eyes again.

"30 more minutes, Al." he said.

"Fine. Only 30, but then we gotta wake up 'cause it'll already be 12:45." she said as she shut her eyes and hugged Nate.

"Mmhmm." he mumbled. Soon, the two both fell asleep in each other's arms for a while.

---------

After 30 minutes, Alex woke up to find Nate staring at her. They were still laying down.

She yawned softly and said, "hey."

"Hey." he replied.

"You're up now, right? So we can go downstairs? I'm hungry." she said and smiled.

He chuckled and gave her a peck on her forehead and said, "okay. I'm up. Let's go."

Nate kept a hand on Alex's back to make sure she wouldn't fall. He thought she seemed pretty tired. Finally, they both headed downstairs.

----------

"Goodness gracious," Nate and Alex turned their heads to see Denise pretty freaked out, "Did it really take this long to wake him up, Alex?" she then smiled.

"Sorry Mom, I was too tired. Last night was 'F.F.F.' and I stayed up late."he said.

"Then how come Alex isn't as tired as you?"she asked.

"Well, only _I_ stayed up late, to talk to Miles. I forced Alex to sleep beside me for half an hour more."he replied.

"okay okay. Al, you can go ahead and eat now. Sorry for such a long wait, because of my little boy here."she said, as she pinched Nate's cheeks, and Nate groaned and shook away from his mom.

Alex giggled a little and replied, "no it's fine, Denise, really. I'm okay with it. After all, he's my best friend."she said, and walked into the dining room and talked to Frankie and Shane. Meanwhile, Denise waited until Alex left to speak to Nate.

"Sweetie, why would you do that to Alex?"she asked as she focused her eye contact on him, making sure he was listening.

"I'm sorry, mom. She's my best friend, she's okay with it. And she looked kind of tired to me."

"Yes, that is reasonable, but I mean about last night. I don't understand, usually you and Alex go to bed at the same time."

"Mom, I had to talk to Miley. She's my girlfriend."

"But you didn't have to force her to sleep beside you for your own sake. Nate, you're supposed to be more responsible and mature. Alex is your best friend, don't you ever forget that. And I don't want to ever hear if you break her heart or hurt her, son. She's been going through a lot, and she's a part of this family. Don't treat her like she's just some person you just met, Nate. I shouldn't have to be telling this to you, you should already know."

"Sorry Mom. I know. And I can't live without her Mom. I promise I won't mess it up."

"Good."

He walked into the dining room and found Alex and Frankie doing a handshake. He smiled at this-Alex being so good around Frankie, and them having a blast. She was so good around kids, it was hard to not like her as a person. She was so fun to be around. Nate kept smiling as he watched his little brother and his best friend play patty-cake.

_----------_

_She could be money, cars, fear of the dark.._The music played softly on Alex's speaker as she laid on her stomach, her head picked up, and her legs kicking up in the air. She held a Rock Out! Magazine in her hand as she skimmed through all the different bands the magazine had featured in or talked about. Music was something she held close to her heart. But she was basically into alternative rock right now though, and this magazine was pretty much made just for her. She definitely knew Miley would probably call this kind of music 'noise'. And then Nate would say, "But I love this song," and Miley would suddenly be shocked and say, "Natey, I don't want you listening to this garbage." Alex's thoughts were interrupted when she heard a knock at the door. She grabbed her speaker remote and lowered the volume. She saw Nate walk in smiling when he saw her reading the magazine.

"Hey." she said softly and she returned her attention to the magazine.

"Hey," he replied as he sat down on her computer chair and rolled the chair over to the side of the edge of her bed, where he would be facing Alex's face.

"So what's up?" she asked, still not really paying attention.

"I kind of need advice..." he began.

"With what?" she dropped her wrists to slightly drop the magazine, so she could look at Nate with one eyebrow raised high.

"Um, I..I need to know what's a good birthday present for Miley,"he said.

Alex again fully covered her face with the magazine. "Well..it depends.."She began to say. Should she really help Nate out with his girlfriend? A girl that _isn't_ her? She started thinking, Now's_ the time to tell him...just say it. I'm in love with you. _But then Alex's face became wary as she began to feel guilt. If she really loved him, she'd want to make him happy. She'd wanted to be the reason he's happy. But she would always know that there was a difference-she wanted him to be happy with her. She shook her head as to shake the thoughts off, and listened to Nate speak.

"Yeah?" he asked.

Behind the mag, Alex smirked and softly sighed as she said, "What's the occasion?"she asked. Half of her was saying that she was so stupid for actually trying to help. But the other half told her to keep making him happy, because moments like this would make Nate realize why he would be in love with her later on.

"It's her sixteenth birthday. Oh, I forgot to tell you, she invited you as well."He said. He added the last part to ease the mood-he could feel the tension between he and Alex. He could tell Alex didn't get along with girls who were different than her kind of style.

"Okay, well if you _really_ want it to be special, buy her something like, I don't know, I guess jewelry. All girls love jewelry. But girly-girls, which, no offense, is how Miley is, love the pricey jewelry. They love extravagant bling." She stressed the whole idea of it being expensive, as she stood up, dropped the mag, and used hand motions and her eyes widened as she explained it to Nate.

"But, I don't have that kind of money."he said.

"Well, you could buy one that's in your budget. Try looking for something with her birthstone in it. I'm sure you'll find one."she said.

She watched and waited for Nate to speak as he looked to the side, and pulled his eyebrows together. "I'm not so sure if I can do that. I mean, I'm no expert at choosing this kind of stuff." he said.

"Hey, maybe you can help me?"He looked up, using the puppy-dog trick on her.

"OH no," she said, as she waved her arms and hands in front of her, stressing how bad she didn't want to, "Nate, I'm not that good either. Dude, if you can't remember, that after all these years, I've always been a tomboy-ish girl. I wouldn't know what she likes. I barely know her. _You're _her boyfriend." she said.

"But _I'm _not a girl." he shot back.

"Yes, I may be a girl, but I'm not a girly-girl, Nate. Shoot, if a guy were to buy me a simple necklace that says _'peace'_ on it, and it costs like, two fifty as compared to two hundred fifty, I'd take it." she said.

Nate was silent for a few seconds before saying, "Hey, where can I get a necklace like that? The two fifty one." he asked.

Alex scoffed and said, "Wow Nate, you're that cheap. Okay, I'll admit, if I had a choice to have the two fifty one or two hundred fifty one on my sixteenth birthday, I'd take the more pricier one. Why? Because, a girl's sixteenth birthday is special."

"Fine. I guess you have a point." he muttered, "But, _please please_ help me look for one. Please Allie?" he begged.

"Fine." Alex said and finally gave in.

* * *

A few days passed, and Nate and Alex finally found the perfect necklace for Miley. Alex found a necklace in a jewelry shop window that had a heart-shaped locket on it. It was simple, but Alex couldn't take her eyes off of it. But then she looked to the necklace next to it and her face became disgusted. Nate then knew just what to buy Miley, if Alex hated something, Miley would love it. Next to Alex's 'dream necklace' was a necklace with a huge star shaped pendant in the middle. It held Miley's birthstone, a topaz, in the middle of it. It was carved in a star shape. The pendant was five times as big as the pendant on Alex's necklace choice. Alex knew it was perfect for Miley, it had a huge star, which was exactly what little miss 'diva princess' thought she was.

Nate found out that necklace was in fact a little pricey, but Alex already bought her gift for Miley, and had a lot of money on her daily budget left. So, her being the 'best best best friend ever' as Nate had put it,-and the girl who truly loved Nate for who he is-pulled out some big bucks to help out Nate.

----------

"Oh my gosh, Alex, thank you so much for coming. It's really so amazing to have you here. Just makes the party much more better." she said as she smiled, and unlocked the gate for Alex to walk in. Alex and Miley didn't hate each other, they just hated the things that the other was interested in. And honestly, Alex had no reason to fully hate her as a person. Miley did have nice manners, but she acted like a princess, is a brat when she doesn't get what she wants, and overdresses herself, even sometimes revealing too much skin.

Alex softly chuckled-somehow it always made her less nervous-and smiled and said, "Really, Miley, it's my pleasure. I'm honored that you invited me." she said, still giving her a genuine smile, as she stepped onto the artificial sand on the pavement with her bare feet, holding a towel and her sandals in her left hand.

"Of course, I'm sure you would be, everyone is." she said, smiling proudly. She didn't intend on it sounding rude, it's just that she was so spoiled, that she always said things like this.

"Now where's my Natey?" Miley said, and pushed Alex to the side, and searched through the door and kept looking for Nate.

Alex walked away after Nate popped up, and the two began kissing intensely. Alex couldn't take it, and just walked to the dancing floor, everyone was jumping up and down, some drinking some punch by the refreshments table. She spotted "Niley" on the dance floor, in the middle of everyone, still holding onto each other while dancing.

"Hey Al! Just wanted to say 'hi' real quick, so 'HI!' " Mitchie cheered. She tapped Alex on the shoulder, Shane came by, and the two greeted Alex quickly before heading out on the dance floor themselves.

"Hey Alex." Alex turned to her side to see a friend from school. Newt. Newt Livingston.

"Um, hey Newt." she replied politely. Really, all she wanted to do was stand at the side, drink some punch, and enjoy the pumped-up energy of the people dancing, and the music playing loudly.

"Uh...this is kind of awkward for me to ask..but, do you want do dance?" he said. Alex turned a little to face him and found him rubbing the back of his neck hesitantly. He didn't look to nervous, he liked someone else-the whole school knew-but he was kind of embarrassed to ask Alex. A lot of guys at school thought she was the perfect girl. And they were right. But she already had her eyes set on the perfect guy.

Alex looked around at the setting-it was a beach theme, so fake sand was all over the place, but some cement area was left uncovered for a dance floor area, and a swimming area-and found that it was only Newt and her standing alone at the sides. The song changed to "Invisible" by Taylor Swift. She spotted Newt slowly extending his hand out in front of him. Alex eyed it carefully.

"Sure.." she said, and took his hand.

Alex awkwardly placed her arms around his neck, and looked to the side as Newt gently placed his hands on her waist. Alex looked over to Nate and Miley dancing with each other; Miley's head was on his shoulder, and they held each other close. Alex felt her heart sink.

Newt could sense Alex's sorrow. "Hey, Alex.." he started to say.

She turned her head up and looked at him. "Yeah?"

He continued, "How come you don't just tell him how you feel?" he asked.

She pulled her eyebrows together and asked, "what do you mean?"

"You. How come you can't just tell Nate you love him?" he restated.

"How do you know that?"she questioned.

" 'Cause I can tell. Same thing happened between me and my best friend. Rose. She loved me, and after two years, she told me how she felt. And now, we're together, and I realized I've loved her and have been in love with her all this time."

Alex blinked once, and looked down a little. "Well..."She gazed over at Nate and Miley once more, and opened her mouth to speak once more, "it's a little more complicated than what you've experienced. I'm the one who's being the helplessly-in-love fool. In your situation, you were the one who was oblivious to Rose. You have to understand, it must've been hard for her. Just like it is for me. I'm in love with the boy, and he doesn't even know it. And you know, with Miley, it seems he's acting different with her as compared to all the others. He forgets about me sometimes. And trust me, for Nate, that's uncommon for him to forget things, especially me."

"I guess you have a point. But, wouldn't you rather know what he would do, than to wonder later on what he _would have _said and done? You don't want to spend your whole future wondering on that." he suggested.

"Now you've got a point," she said and smiled, "but...I just can't take that chance, Newt. If he does say no, I'd hurt too much to live. Mitchie's told me, I'm already depressed as it is. And she's not so sure that I'd be able to survive if he does take it the wrong way." she replied.

"Well, now I can't help you. But, I'll tell you one thing, Alex. He definitely needs to wake up. 'Cause he's missing out on someone great that could be an amazing part of his life. And another thing, that someone already is."he smiled greatly at Alex.

Alex began to blush, and said, "thanks."

He shrugged his shoulders and said, "no problem."

Suddenly, the two heard a big splash coming from the pool. It was much louder than the music, and it grabbed everyone's attention. Alex and Newt turned to the scene. They found Miley yelling and complaining at her two big brothers laughing and high-fiving each other. By the looks of it, Miley was almost crying too. Alex put the pieces together, and walked closer to see who Miley's brothers pushed in the water. Alex frantically looked around and found that Nate was nowhere to be seen, and she'd just seen Nate dancing and standing right beside Miley. Alex began running over to the pool while shouting at Miley, "MILEY! You have to jump in the pool now! You have to get Nate out of the water now!" she commanded.  
"Alex! I can't! I have an exclusive Aturo Votalli one-piece swimsuit on! It's a one-of-a-kind!" she yelled back.

Alex groaned, and began pulling her shirt and shorts off to reveal her swimsuit, when she finally arrived at the pool edge. She heard some wolf-whistles from some of the school jocks, and dived into the pool. From what Alex could see above the surface, she could tell that the side of the pool where Nate was pushed in was about 10 feet deep. Alex spread her arms, moving them like she had wings, but kept her focus. She continuously prayed to God while she attempted to save Nate that he'd stay alive. That somehow her love for her best friend was enough to convince the Lord to save him. She honestly couldn't breathe without him. Alex had finally got a hold of Nate, and brought him back to the surface, where Nate was still unconscious. Miley and her brothers started taking Nate's hands and about to pull him in, when Alex started sinking back down gradually, but fast enough so Miley couldn't get a hold of him anymore. Alex felt that her foot and ankle was caught onto something, but it was sinking down to the ground of the pool. Alex started being pulled down, and she too, started losing her breath, and coughing up water whenever she managed to rise above the surface. But then, Alex's eyes began to weaken down, at the same time Nate opened his eyes to see his best friend holding his arm to support him. He felt Alex's hold loosening. He observed her eyes slowly closing, her legs started to stop moving, and her chest seemed to stop moving. He immediately grabbed her waist with one hand, and pushed against the water with his other arm every so often to get to the top. He reached the surface, and managed to get both their heads above the water. He coughed up some water before saying, "Sh-she's not breathing! Her foot's caught onto something! I need you guys to help me lift her up on the ground and help cut off whatever is attached to her foot! It keeps pulling the both of us back down." he announced.

Shane and Mitchie immediately appeared at their sides; Shane pulled Nate out of the pool, and Mitchie pulled Alex out and grabbed the knife that Miley handed her, and cut the rope off of Alex's ankle. Apparently it had fallen in from the edge of the pool.

------------

After a while, Alex had finally gained consciousness again. Alex slowly woke up to find herself in a bedroom, but since she could still hear loud music and people chatting, she assumed she was still at Miley's place.

"Hey Al, you're up." she heard Nate softly say. She found him getting up from Miley's computer desk, and he towered over and he placed his hand on her forehead to make sure she wasn't catching a fever. "Oh, thank goodness. You're ok, you don't even have a fever." he removed his hand and kissed her forehead.

"Nate," she said and sat up, "what happened? Why is my skin cold, and how did I end up in Miley's bedroom?" she questioned.

"Well, Miley told me her brothers pushed me into the pool, on the ten-feet side. She told me I was drowning, and you came to save me, and so you jumped in. Miley said that you were able to get back to the surface, and you kept me up, but somehow, you were being pulled down by something. Her and her brothers started pulling me up, but then you started sinking, and it made me sink, before they could get a grip on me. And this part coming up, I remember. I opened my eyes, and I felt you tugging on my arm. And then your grip became loose, and I felt you letting go and I immediately held on to you with my other arm pushing up and my legs kicking to get us to the surface. Man, Allie, I thought I was going to lose you. I could never forgive myself if I did."he said. He pushed back his hair, and placed his hand on the back of his neck as he stood staring at Alex.

"Hey, bud, come here." she said. She stood up and opened up her arms for a hug. Nate walked to her and hugged her as he held her close to his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, and placed his chin on her shoulder. Alex began to feel something wet on her left shoulder.

"Nate?" she shifted her head position and lifted her head to look at Nate, and placed a hand on his cheek. She brushed her thumb across his cheek to wipe his tears off.

"Nate, as you can see, you didn't lose me. And you're not going to anytime soon. We're both fine, Nate. And I'll yell at Miley's brothers later-unless she took care of it already. Look, I'm just happy you finally learned how to swim. On your own, and without anybody's help, without _my_ help!" she said, and smiled. Both of her hands ended up holding Nate's face in them, and they were placed along his cheeks to comfort him.

"I know, Al. I just, I really thought I was about to lose you right then. Like, when you loosened your grip, I felt for your hand, and it didn't feel like it had life in it. Alex, if I lost you, I don't know what I'd do. I'd lose myself too."he replied, and held firmly onto one of Alex's hands close to his cheek, and stroked her hand with his thumb. This made Alex smile.

"Oh, and Al, you know, I _did_ have your help. I learned how to swim because I was so afraid of losing you in that second." he said, and he brushed her hair back with his hand and leaned his head down to kiss her forehead. The two then heard footsteps coming, and so they sat down on the bed and played music on Miley's radio speaker. Two soft knocks were placed on the bedroom door. "Hey guys," Miley said. "Oh! Alex, you're okay. Whoo, thank the Lord, huh? I swear if either of you were to, ya know, _go_, I wouldn't know what to do with Nate, if Alex went, and with Alex, if Nate went. And I'd yell at my brothers every single day for today. Okay, well, maybe that last part is already gonna happen. But you get the point. We're cookin' barbecue downstairs, do you guys want to come down? And Alex I'll grab you some sweats and a long-sleeve." she said.

"Thanks Miley." she said. She laid back down on the bed and closed her eyes as she listened to the music. She heard Miley and Nate's little intimate moment while she did so.

"Thanks, Miles." he said, and kissed her on the lips.

Miley smiled."Okay. Here ya go, Alex. You can keep 'em, I won't wear anything except for big brands. My mom got those as a total knock-off from Vanessa's Mystery. I mean, it was _just _one hundred dollars. She could've raised the budget a little bit more!" she said. She cleared her throat and said, "Sorry. So, do you wanna keep them?"Miley asked.

Alex sat up and looked at the sweats and grinned. "Yeah, sure, Miley. These totally rock! Thank you so much!" she said.

"I'm gonna go use the bathroom real quick. I'll be right back." Nate announced.

"So...why did you have to save Nate so bad? I mean, I could've done it, but..you know, these sandals, plus this suit, plus this hair, plus that chlorine-filled pool water, does _not_ equal a totally cute outfit!" she said.

Alex chuckled a little, "right..Anyways, I don't know if I can tell you. You'd have to ask Nate yourself. He really doesn't like to relive the memory."

"oh...okay."Miley replied.

"I'm back." Nate said.

"Hey, Nate? What was up with you and the pool today? I mean, why were you drowning? I thought _everybody _knew how to swim." Miley said.

Alex patted Miley's knee, and gave her a look to tell her to stop-she observed Nate's wary face. But, of course, Miley kept going on.

"And you don't? I _so _don't want a boyfriend who can't swim." Miley said.

"Miley, that's good. You can stop now." Alex warned through gritted teeth. Now, Nate's eyes were getting watery, but again, Miley didn't listen.

She continued,"I mean, what if we go to the ocean as a surprise, and I can't get my hair wet, and you need to be the one to carry me on your shoulders so I can't get my hair wet? I mean, think a little Nate, don't be so selfish. I-"

Alex raised her voice and made it clear, and widened her eyes as she interrupted Miley's little lecture and said, "Miley, that's enough...You can cut it now."

Miley became scared from Alex's sudden change of tone, and the stern look on her face.

Nate began to say, "Al...it's ok," Alex looked at Nate, and could tell his voice was cracking, and his throat was burning. He was about to cry, she just knew it.

"I can take it from here." he said.

"A-Are you sure? I can tell her for you."she said softly, to somehow ease him from crying or bursting.

"Yeah, I'll tell her. Um, I'll tell her alone, Al. You can go change, and we'll meet you down in five." he said. Alex nodded and walked out to the bathroom. She changed as quickly as she could, and headed back to the bedroom door. She pressed her ear against the door. She couldn't help it, she needed to hear this.

"Miley, what I'm about to tell you, you can't laugh, okay? And you can't tell anyone else."he said. Miley simply nodded.

"You're right, Miles. I drowned in the pool because I can't swim." he paused for a second, and Alex could tell Miley was trying to hold in a giggle.

"Look Miles, I'm afraid of the water, okay? Okay, look, here's why. Well, I have--_had_ this dog named Chip. He was my favorite dog ever. He was my best friend, next to Alex. Alex, Chip, and I went everywhere together, the park, the beach, the ice cream store. My family sent me on a trip to visit my cousins in Italy for a week during the summer of 2000. It was in a private jet, and my dog, Chip, was my only companion. The jet crashed and only Chip and I survived. We crashed into the ocean, in the middle of nowhere. My phone was already fried, but luckily, Chip and I had already eaten enough for the day to survive. To survive for a few days, even. We had to keep swimming, looking for somewhere to land and find shelter and food. I had to swim on my back while floating. It was horrible, Miley. We'd swam for three days, and then, I got tired. I started sinking in a little, and we started hearing choppers coming, like an emergency rescue crew. I could hear their bullhorns, but I kept sinking into the ocean, deeper and deeper. I'd lost pretty much all my energy to keep me floating. Chip knew, and he swam under me and brought me to the top. I saw fins coming, and Chip was able to rise me to the surface and the rescue team picked me up and pulled me into their helicopter. I looked down, kind of dizzily, and I saw the fins circling around Chip. The rescue team tried to get Chip into the helicopter with a rope thrown down at him, but the fins sank down, and Chip did as well. I saw the fins rise up as Chip tried to escape, and the fins rose to show man-eating sharks. They were great whites. The rescue team kept trying to retrieve Chip by throwing down a net-like rope so that Chip could climb up. But the sharks pulled him back in, and some of them even cut the rope off, pulling so hard, that the guys holding it almost fell off the vehicle, and it even shook the chopper to the side a little. We waited an hour for Chip to rise back up to the surface-I begged them to. But after forty-five minutes, only the sharks rose up. I could tell he was gone, and I heard the rescue team say that one of Chip's legs was caught onto the rope that the Sharks bit off from one of the rescue guys. I lost Chip. He was like Alex to me, but in dog version. And now whenever I look into the water, I remember that day, when I lost Chip. I'd lost a part of me." he said. Alex waited until she could hear Miley. At first it was pure silence, and then Miley suddenly burst out laughing.

"Oh, that was a cute story, Nate!" she laughed, and placed a hand on his shoulder and continued, "but seriously, a dog? _That's_ the reason why you're so afraid of the water? Nate, you have _got_ to move on! You're never gonna see him again! He's in doggy heaven. He's fine!" Miley said.

Alex knew that at first Miley was definitely _really _rude, but when she started saying that Chip was in doggy heaven, and all that, Alex could tell Miley was trying to be nice, but still sounded mean.

"Miles, it's not funny. Thanks for trying, though. Remember, don't tell anyone else. And thanks, Miles, I know. He's in a good place now." he said. Alex waited for a few more minutes, and she could tell they were having an intimate moment. Nate and Miley were laying on Miley's bed next to each other. Nate had one of his arms around her waist, and his other stroked her hair as she laid her head on his chest. Nate was sobbing from the memory of Chip, and Miley caressed his cheek with her hand as she slowly fell into a peaceful slumber.

Alex could once again feel her heart sink. She could actually feel it. She could feel and hear it make an imaginary "thump" sound inside of her chest. The blood from her face rushed down her, and her face was blank. All she could feel was her heart slowly cracking, as if it were stabbed by a knife, and the knife was being dragged down the middle, on the line of the crack, and it eventually split open. And then it finally fell out of place, and sunk down to her stomach. And she could feel her feet slowly sliding down, her back to the wall, and tears streaming down her face. One leg spread out across the hall, and the other was pulled in. Her arms were spread out as well, and she stared blankly at the wall, silently crying. All she could think was that Nate really did like Miley. He never treated his other girlfriends like this. He'd hug Alex while laying down as well, but he didn't do that with his girlfriends. Alex couldn't comprehend it, what did he see in her? Miley laughed at his story about Chip. And he was even sobbing right now. All Miley did was laugh at him, tell him that Chip's in a better place, and she said it in a happy mood. Alex couldn't hear Miley speaking, so she knew Miley was fallling asleep as Nate was crying his heart out, which was exactly what Alex was doing right now. Alex knew that Miley...she, she just never would understand Nate like Alex did. Thoughts began racing through her head, as every word she thought had brought a single tear from her eye, and slid slowly down her cheeks.

_I know everything that's happened to you, your whole life story. She'll never know it, or get it. And sure, she may know it now, because you told her, but she'll never know how heartbroken you were when you found out about your diabetes,or how upset you were when you almost had to move away from us. Because I was there to experience it with you. And she'll never know how heartbroken you are now. She'll never know you. She'll never know..She'll never know, Nate._

Alex pulled her knees together and placed her face in her hands. The tears slipped through her hands, as she placed her head on her knees. She cried hysterically, and she'd always cover her face, and curl up in a ball whenever she did. She let the tears slip through, just like Nate let her slip through his hands.

* * *

**OK... so please, R&R! I didn't post up the outfits yet, just so you know. I don't have time! It's already 9:24 PM here in my time, my bedtime's 10 PM, and I have school tomorrow. SOO sorry for the long wait! Again, I had a little writer's block. I definitely apologize. =]**

**-Shae Shae**


	4. Questions Only Lead to More Tears

**Okay! I have some news..After spring break for me is over..I'm grounded from the laptop. I have to try really hard to focus on my HW and finish it early, so that I can still use the laptop. I can still use it; but I can only use it at earlier times on the weekdays. And the laptop is where I save all my projects: stories, pictures, music I downloaded, videos I'm working on for YouTube, and even photo shop stuff. So yeah..and I'm really sorry guys! PM me if you're wondering why I'm being grounded from it. Don't wanna say it here.**

**Oh and Rose's name is gonna be changed to Caitlyn. Got it? Okay.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story, or anything else besides the plot!**

_New character(s):_

Maria C. Barrera – Theresa Russo {yes, she still lives here. She leaves the house _later _on in the story.}

David Deluise – Jerry Russo

Caitlyn Geller – Alyson Stoner

Chapter 4:Questions Only Lead to More Tears

_She wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts;_

_She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers;_

_Dreamin' 'bout the day, when you wake up and find that what you're-_

_lookin' for has been here the whole time._

_----------_

_If you could see that I'm the one who understands you,_

_Been here all along, so why can't you-_

_see?; you belong with me.._

**You belong with me.**

* * *

It was another typical day as Alex woke up and rubbed her eyes. She looked through her window, and could see Nate's room—empty. He spent the night at Miley's house. After the moment where Alex spent a whole two hours and a half crying her heart out; she finally picked herself up and walked away. She skateboarded home; and some tears still spilled down softly from her eyes—from her heart.

She quickly got up and washed her face and took care of all the hygienic cleaning she always did in the morning. She walked into her room and slipped on some jeans; a shirt, and some converse. She brushed her messy hair, and slipped on a hippy band—she could rock anything. Then she applied some mascara, eyeliner, and dark eyeshadow. Once she was satisfied, she looked at herself in the mirror.

The makeup was making her itchy, but she wanted to try something different for a change. But just like Mitchie and Shane had implied and said; she subconsciously was trying something new for _Nate._

--------------------

She picked up her backpack and rushed downstairs, making a 'thump' and 'woosh' sound every time she stepped on one of the platforms of the stairs. She picked up a banana and an apple, and kissed her mom's cheek. "Bye Mom. Love ya. I'm gonna take Max to school, okay?"  
"Mmkay, Alex. Take care." and with that, she walked upstairs, not bothering to wait for Alex to close their door. Alex and her mom weren't very close. Most of the time, Theresa pretty much annoyed the crap out of Alex. But she still loved her.

Alex walked over to her little brother and kissed him on the forehead, and hugged him tight. She rested her chin on his head and said, "C'mon Maxie. We should go now. They're going through one of their tantrums again." Alex said, and paused for a moment to listen to their parents yelling at each other, slamming doors, and glass breaking. Don't be worried, the Russo parents weren't crazy. And you're probably thinking right now that Jerry was, ahem, _abusing_ Theresa with the glass. No, he wasn't. He never does. The glass breaking is usually glass being thrown randomly on the ground or at the wall, to release some anger. And usually Jerry locked Theresa out of their bedroom, then Theresa would sleep in the guest room. That was the slamming door part.

Alex shuddered, and a tiny tear dropped on Max's head of smooth hair. "Let's go, Max. Let's go _now."_ Alex said, with fear and emphasis.

--------------------

They grabbed their skateboards and skated for fifteen minutes until a building with the letters Lights Heights Junior High came into view. The two siblings stopped, and Alex gave one last kiss to Max on his cheek before ruffling his hair and saying "See ya Maxie. Take care. Love ya."

"You take care too, Alex. Love you too." Max called back. Alex watched as he skateboarded a little closer to his group of friends. The group all walked into their school entrance, and the students were all out of sight.

Alex sped up on her skateboard once again and started accelerating in the direction of her school. She began tearing up—so many things were going through her mind.

---------

First, there was Max. All she could do was worry about him. She wasn't overprotective of him, it's just that she always prayed to God every day that he'd come back safe and sound, and that she'd be safe and sound as well just so she could still be there for him. If he was gone, she'd lose someone she held dearly to her heart. And if she'd gone, _phew_, there's no telling how long everyone would be crying.

Second, there were her parents. It's like all they were capable of doing when around each other, was fighting—whether it was verbal, or physical..kind of. It was like their immediate bad habit. Anywhere, they'd fight:at a restaurant, at a movie theater, at an airport, in the car...and they didn't know it crushed her and Max.

And then there was Nate. Nate was her everything. Nate was Alex's savior, and he kept Alex happy. Even if that meant she'd have to pretend she was. But he knew just how to cheer her up. And there were times where Alex felt like she should just rise, rise, up into heaven. But Nate kept her away from that. He made her feel loved.

----------

Alex quickly brushed her tears away with her arm when she saw Nate and Miley approaching her.

"Hey guys.." she said. She attached her skateboard to her backpack. **[IDK how they do it, but some guys I know do have backpacks like that, that can hold your skateboard for you. Pretty cool.]**

"Hi Alex!" Miley said, cheerfully. She then giggled a little and continued speaking. "Alex, can you _please_ come to the cheerleading practice today? Please, please, _please_? I'd like your opinion on our cheers." she said.

Alex was starting to get a little irritated by Miley. Nate didn't even notice. He used to know what Alex was feeling inside, and could even tell when Alex was lying, but that was a long time ago. _When did that start to change? When did it all go downhill? _Alex thought. But she was polite, and replied back.

"Um, sure. I'd be up for that. Though the football practice might catch my eye. It kind of seems interesting, and I kind of want to try it out." Alex said.

"But why? I mean, football can be fun, I guess. But it's _so_, like, boring, and dirty and dangerous, and-" she babbled.

"-I'll just meet you there, Miley." she said, not wanting to hear Miley rant on. She smiled at Miley quickly and started to walk away.

But Nate spoke up."Oh, well, actually, I'm coming too."

"Not a surprise.." Alex mumbled-Nate didn't hear it. Alex had gotten really good about hiding things from Nate when it came to how she felt or what she noticed about him. She spoke louder again. "Okay, then I'll meet you both there." she said.

Alex started to walk away quickly—she didn't want to be around Niley right now. She kind of wanted to be alone, just to think.

----------

"I'll see ya later, babe." Nate said to Miley, and kissed her on the cheek.

"Hey, Alex! Wait up!" Nate called.

Alex groaned a little, thinking that Nate wanted to talk about Miley or something. That's all they ever talked about was Miley nowadays. Okay, maybe they did talk about other things, but it was something that only Miley and him knew about. Apparently, Nate always "forgot" to tell Alex. _We used to tell each other everything..what happened to that? _Alex shook her head to shake the thoughts away.

_Alex, stop grieving. Maybe this is your payback. You're hiding something from him too. You've been hiding it for 5 years now._

Nate caught up to Alex once more.

"Hey..." she said. She was frowning, and everyone around them could tell. They stared at her. Everyone knew Alex as an upbeat, happy person. Boy, do people change. But people can change because of other people. And sometimes people can even change because other people change.

**[Ahem, thank you, Miley! And Nate had to change in a stupid way, and Alex is changing just by how she feels. Poor Allie.]**

Nate was so oblivious to Alex. He still smiled at her even if Alex was frowning. He was so different. He was a little more sophisticated, instead of free. He was..more serious. More mature. Things were definitely different. Usually, with Alex, Nate was just as immature and upbeat as her. Not anymore. Only once in a while was he like that. And that was a rare moment nowadays to Alex.

"So...what's up?" Nate said, trying to start a conversation. The two were walking the long front lawn of the school slowly, not picking up the pace. Five minutes had already passed, and neither of them said a thing. Alex sat down at a pond by the school building, and dropped her body right by it. She sat down cross-legged, picking at the grass, silent. She started looking into the water.

Alex looked up slowly. "Nothing, really.." she said, and dropped her head back down to stare at the water. She could somehow see her reflection in it. It was her, but it didn't feel like it. Because of heartbreak and pain from a certain _someone_ sitting right beside her, the true Alex wasn't brought out anymore. Only that certain someone could really do that.

Nate nodded his head and looked directly forward as he sat down cross-legged as well.

"How's Max doing?" Nate asked. Alex felt a little hurt that he'd even have to ask that. A small wave of reality washed over her as she realized that Nate hadn't visited in a while. 6 months, to be exact.

"Um..he's fine. He's staying out of trouble."She said, and smiled a tiny, tiny bit afterwards.

"Good, that's good. So, what about the 'rents?" he asked.

Alex started to grimace. She felt as if they were talking like adults, or friends who hadn't known each other long, or friends who'd been apart for like, sixteen years. And she also grimaced because Nate had brought up the subject.

"Uh..." she said, and started to look down and pick some grass that was sitting in the open area in front of her.

Nate waited patiently, and watched her actions.

"Uh..well," she started to say. She struggled on what to say. She didn't really feel comfortable about talking with Nate about personal stuff anymore, and that was awkward. They were drifting apart. Alex knew she couldn't really tell Nate anymore. She'd need him if she did tell him, but she knew for sure that he didn't need her anymore.

"I guess..the same. And worse..I-I don't know."she answered, trying to look as honest as she could.

"Oh. Okay. Well, do you want to talk?" he asked.

Alex faced him and said, "What is there to talk about?" she looked upset, and she was. But she said it without thinking. She closed her mouth and turned her face to the pond again. Her face still looked upset.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I-It's nothing." she asked. Her voice was starting to crack. She cleared her throat to prevent it from getting worse.

"Okay." he said softly. She could tell he sounded kind of confused. But not hurt. He usually would be hurt if Alex was acting like this—like she was hiding something from him.

"Well.." he began to say. "Why are you so upset? Did I do anything wrong?" he asked.

_You're seriously asking that question, Nate? _she thought. Her throat ached to let out those words, but something in her just wouldn't let her. She didn't want to fight with him right now. She would wait for the right time to tell him what she felt—about everything.

Alex tried her best to reply softer and calmer this time. "It's nothing, Nate." she said. She turned to face him again and said "I swear."

"Good." he said. He grabbed her hand. " 'Cause if there was, I'd have to beat up the person responsible for making you PMS." he joked.

She gasped. "I am _not_ PMS-ing, thank you very much." she chuckled.

Another awkward, yet comforting silence filled the air for a moment.

"You know, I miss this..." Alex admitted.

"Yeah, I do too.."he said.

_Dude, it's effin' YOUR fault why we miss this! _Alex thought.

"Now, can you tell me what's bugging you? Now that we have the time?"he begged. He gripped Alex's hand tighter. Alex faced him and found him using his famous puppy-dog face on her, and she giggled.

She sighed. _If only I could tell you..but not now. I officially swear to myself that I'll tell you I love you, Nate. I will one day, when the time is right._ She thought. She closed her eyes and inhaled. "My parents..their fights, they're getting worse..Mom's sleeping in another room now, Nate.

And...well, Nate I hate to say it. But..we're just, we're drifting apart. I don't hate Miley or blame her or anything, but..Nate, I miss you. Bud, I love you, but..then I feel like I hate you at the same time. And we don't have anything to talk about that's..un-awkward for the both of us. I mean, we can't talk about anything going on in my life, because you don't really understand. You haven't been there when I needed you the most.." she said, and her eyes began tearing up.

"Alex, I can't always be here to help you. I mean, it's not like we're dating." he said. Alex felt that he was just making it worse for her. He was so oblivious that that one sentence that he just spoke out..well, it hurt her. It hurt her like hell.

"Nate..it's just...forget it."she snapped.

"No, tell me." he demanded. Alex looked at him, a little hurt.

"okay, fine. It's just..Nate, you don't know what's going on, okay? The fights have gotten so much worse, that...I-I actually thought about what would happen if I never existed. And what would happen if I were to disappear one day. I had thoughts about committing suicide, and cutting myself. And..I-I even wrote in my diary!" by now, Alex was sobbing. " I haven't written in my diary ever since seventh grade!" She looked at Nate, waiting for him to say something, but he just stared at her without emotion. She stared at the pond and thought, _Stupid me! You shouldn't have told him, Alex. He doesn't need you. He can't comfort you. He's right, he can't always be there for you. _But then she felt Nate's strong arms around her, embracing her. He pulled her up onto his lap, and she stayed staring ahead, letting the tears pour out. He turned her so that she laid her head on his chest, and he still held her close. He held her, and rocked her back and forth.

"Shh, Lexie. Everything will be alright. As long as I'm here, you'll be safe. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. And, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, Alex. I'm sorry for being such a horrible best friend for not getting updates on what's going on with you. And I'm sorry I said that I can't be there to help you."

Alex looked up at him. "Y-You mean it?"

"Yes, Allie. You're my best friend. I love you. I can't live without you." he said.

"Good. 'Cause I love you too. Just don't ever forget that. And please don't ever leave me, Nate. Don't hurt me. You promise?" she asked, looked up at him, and held out her pinky.

"I promise, Al. And I'm not ever going to forget that." he said, hooked his pinky with hers, and pecked her on the lips.

**[[Aww! So cute! :D]] **

Alex sat sluggishly in her desk chair..staring at the clock. She was dreading the time she'd have to meet up with Nate and Miley..well, "Niley." Because she would be walking directly into pain. Yeah, it definitely would've been easier if she just said no. But no..she was a friend to Miley, and Nate's _best _friend. It would make them hurt, and then Miley would annoyingly nag her, and Nate would worriedly and constantly question her on why she'd ditched. But then the time came that the bell rang. Alex groaned, and dropped her head onto her crossed arms. She so hopefully wished that something would come up that she somehow, just possibly, she wouldn't have to go to the practice. She sighed heavily and angrily, picked up her backpack over her shoulder, and walked out of her 6th period class.

----------

"Hey Alex!" Nate called out when he spotted her.

Alex turned around, when he called her name, and smiled to see he was sitting at the bench, alone.._without_ Miley. She grinned.

"Hey." she said, as she dropped her backpack aimlessly, and sat down next to him comfortably. Miley caught sight of both of them, and waved back frantically, jumping up and down. Nate happily waved back, while Alex waved back softly, and a small smile. Really, she was kind of freaked out by how Miley was waving and smiling so much. _She looks like she's about to piss her pants. Wait, no..her short short short short short..skirt. JEEZ! That thing is so short, anyone could see it without even trying. And it's so tight, it's like there's not even enough air for even just her legs to breathe! But seriously, Miley's way too preppy. I really think Nate has a bad choice in girls. No, I'm not being conceited, and what the heck? I'm talking to myself in my mind! Okay, shut up now Alex! GAH!_

She shook her head to stop. Nate noticed, glanced at her for a quick second, "You okay, Lexie?" he asked. Alex grinned to see he actually cared again, and replied "yeah." she smiled

and then kept clapping and rooting for Miley. Alex glanced up at Nate, thinking he was kind of crazy. He was rooting for Miley. She was doing nothing but cheering, flopping herself into the air, and maybe doing splits, all that stuff with major flexibility. Alex looked intensely at Nate's eyes. Somehow, just by looking into his eyes deeply, she could kind of tell what he was thinking. Nate just kept staring, clapping, and cheering. Even when the cheerleaders were just standing there, talking. Alex furrowed her eyebrows as she watched Nate staring, he moved his eyes up and down as well, and it looked like they were sparkling. He was staring, in one spot. Alex glanced to Miley's head, and it didn't match to the position of where Nate had his eyes laid on. Then it hit her. As she slowly comprehended where Nate was staring, doing, and possibly _thinking_, her eyes widened. Without thinking, she smacked Nate's arm.

"Dude!"

"OW! What the heck was that for, Alex? Jeez, you even made a mark."

"Well, sorry it's just..." Alex got too lost in his eyes, but caught herself and spoke up again. "well, you know me. I didn't mean to smack you, I just didn't..think. It's kind of a, reflex?" She said and grinned.

"Okay? Well, yeah I know. You never think before smacking someone if you were really pissed, or shocked. But what the heck did I do?" he asked again.

"Well, um. Okay this is awkward. But...where you staring Miley's boobs?" she asked, kind of grossed out. But yet, somehow she needed, wanted, to know.

Nate blushed. "Well, maybe.."he looked up to Alex raising an eyebrow, not believing him. "Okay, yes! But I was also staring at her butt." he said.

Alex burst out laughing, and he flushed as red as a tomato. "It's not funny!" he said.

"Uh, yeah it is. Haha, I'm laughing at your blushing! And how you answered me.. haha, ' But I was also staring at her butt', you said it so serious, but then you were embarrassed too." she said. "But seriously, _wow_ Nate. Just...wow." she said.

"What?"

"Nothing, it's just..I didn't know you were like that! I didn't know my best friend turned into some perverted pig." she said, seeming innocent. _But people change._

Then a tiny smile creeped up her face, to show that she wasn't judging him.

"Well, yeah. Miley kind of..changed that." he said, softly.

"Whoa! Okay, too much info, Nate. I don't want to know about your, ahem, _more-than-love _life, Nate." she said jokingly.

"Okay, okay."

"Hey, look, Miley's walking over. Maybe they're done practicing." Alex gestured to Miley walking over.

"Hey, Natey. So, what'd ya think?" Miley asked, towards Nate first.

Alex noticed Nate staring at Miley like she was an angel, and nudged him to say some thing. She loved him enough that she didn't want him to look like a fool, even if she'd love him whether he was one or not.

Nate just kept staring at Miley, but managed to say, "amazing..."

Alex started chuckling. Nate glared at her. "well, I do have to agree with him, Miley. That was a really fantastic routine. Probably the best one I've ever seen." she smiled.

"Aww, _thanks _Alex! Hey, would you like to try??" she asked.

Alex's eyes grew big. This time it was Nate's turn to laugh. "Sorry, Miley. Alex here wouldn't be caught cheerleading. She'd rather go skateboarding. Right, Al?" he smiled at her.

"Mmhmm. Ha, you know me so well!" she laughed jokingly, and pretended to wipe a fake tear away, as she placed her other hand on where her heart was.

The happy couple chuckled at her. Then they started talking to each other, about things that didn't concern Alex. She began to zone out, and before she knew it, they left her alone at the bench.

"Hey, Alex." a voice called.

"Oh, hey.." she looked up. "Newt. And, um, I'm guessing this is Caitlyn?" she asked, when she saw a young girl with long, brown and blonde hair. She looked very fit, but looked so sweet.

"Yup. Caitlyn, meet Alex." he said.

"Hi, Caitlyn. Nice to meet you." she said, and smiled at her.

"You too." she replied.

Alex nodded—she felt awkward, and didn't know what to say. She returned to twirling her hair.

"So, how's it going with Nate?" Newt asked.

Alex looked up—she looked emotionless, yet hurt—and shrugged. Truthfully, Alex wasn't really so sure about her and Nate's relationship anymore. She trusted that Nate would keep his promise, yet he still had the will to break it if he wanted to. But she was happier. Her and Nate were at least talking together again, like nothing had happened, like they never drifted apart. But what really upset Alex, was how he'd left her for Miley in the middle of a conversation. And if he would continue it, he'd eventually _want _to hurt Alex, break their promise if he wanted Miley more.

"You guys are drifting apart now, aren't you??" Caitlyn asked.

Alex was kind of interested in what they had to say. "How'd you know??" she asked.

"Well, right now you're Caitlyn, and Nate's me. Ya know? I mean, the exact same thing happened to us too. I kept ignoring Caitlyn for....Jessica." Newt shivered a little at the end, but shrugged it off and waited for Alex's reply.

"Okay...no offense, but you guys are kinda creeping me out. You mean to tell me, that what happened to you guys, is what's happening to me and Nate? And eventually, I'll end up with him?" she asked, bewildered.

"Well, I guess..well, no. Sorry, Alex. We don't know. We don't have the power to determine that or make it happen. But for some reason, Newt here is pretty obsessed with getting involved with your love life. But I keep telling him it's wrong. He just doesn't listen.." she said, and giggled.

"yeah..." Alex said, kind of focused on something else.

"So, where's this Nate, anyways?" Caitlyn asked.

"Um, I honestly don't know.." she replied.

"Oh, there he is" Newt said.

Alex glanced over to Nate and Miley, kissing. Nate was holding Miley's waist, while Miley's legs were wrapped around his. She had her arms embraced around his neck. Alex felt her heart make a 'thump' sound again, wishing once more that that was her waist that Nate was holding and carrying. That it was her lips he was kissing. That she was all his, and that he was all hers.

Alex couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed her backpack, her iPod, and listened to it. She stepped onto her skateboard, and began skating home. She took out her phone real quick and texted Nate that she left, because she needed to start on her homework. He wouldn't know why she'd left so sudden. He wouldn't, because he barely cared anymore, just as long as she was safe. Caitlyn and Newt glanced at each other, Newt felt guilty. Guilty that he was why Alex saw Nate and Miley, and she left. Caitlyn was upset at Newt for that, yet the two still felt so sad for Alex. She was probably the only one who really understood what Alex was going through.

As soon as Alex arrived home, she pulled out a notebook, and started writing in it. If you're thinking it's her diary, it's not. No, what Alex was writing something she was using to vent out her feelings, but not like a journal. No, this was much better than a diary entry. If she wanted to, she'd show it to Nate to make him realize she's the one for him. But, nah. _How stupid would that be?_ She asked herself, mentally smacking herself, because she actually let the possibly run through her head. She couldn't bring herself to tell Nate how she felt. It was.._stupid. Stupid, stupid. I can't believe I actually thought about telling him about this! No, this is for my eyes only. Wow, I'm pretty good at this._ She thought as she glanced at the eighteen lines, one hundred twenty words she'd written down on one single piece of paper. It all just came to her naturally. _But this is so stupid that I'm actually doing this. This is so stupid that I'm so hurt I'd come down to this. It's so stupid that I wanted to show and tell Nate this. How stupid would that be if I told him? _And the answer to that, is that it's not stupid at all. _I guess the right time to tell him is coming soon._

* * *

**So what'd ya think?? And yeah, I know Jason and Alyson is an unusual/uncommon couple. And don't worry, you'll find out that last part, what Alex was writing, and what she's yelling at herself for. And what she's talking about. Yeah, you'll find out soon. Or you can guess it. Lol. XD**

**Well, tell me what you thought! And include ideas along the way, but only ones that won't drastically change my plot. Maybe just little moments and dialogue you had in mind for conversations with the characters in the story. Lol, idk...But I like putting in stuff that readers suggest..so yeah. =P**

**Well, R&R please!! :D **

**Increase the peace!!**

**--Shae Shae [xxthatswhatyougetxx]**


	5. Oblivious

**So wow! I got some time to stay on the laptop. Ha ha I guess 'cause I finished my HW, and I'm ready for tomorrow, my dad's okay with it. He he. so...It's only March 31, today, when I wrote this. I just had a sudden urge to start writing the next chapter. And this only took me about 2-5 hours. Usually, I take about a whole day to write a chapter. Yay! Oh, and you'll be pretty happy about this one. It's pretty much ALL Nalex!! YA! But, Alex and Max have a mini-conversation.**

Chapter 5:Oblivious

_Walkin' the streets with you and your worn-out jeans;_

_I can't help thinkin' this is how it, ought to be;_

_Laughin' on a park bench, thinkin' to myself,_

_'Hey, isn't this easy?'_

* * *

Another day, another heartache. That was..pretty much the case for Alex Russo. She finished her morning routine, greeted her parents goodbye, and dropped Max off at school.

When she arrived at school, she was expecting to be greeted by both Nate and Miley. But she smiled and jumped inside when she only spotted Nate walking over.

She smiled at him.

"Hey, where's Miley?" she asked.

"Oh, she has a family thing today." he answered.

"Oh. Okay."she replied.

Both didn't speak up, so Alex began to walk away a little.

"Wait. Alex, do you wanna hang out later? Just, you and me? I'll turn off my phone. No interruptions, at all." he asked. Alex looked at him, realizing he was kind of hesitant or nervous. It had been a while since either of them asked that. _Even a little more than a while. Way too long. _The last time they hung out, it wasn't like usual.

"You mean, like we used to?" she asked, with a sparkle of hope inside of her.

"Yeah." he said.

"Sure." she replied.

xoxoxoxoxo

Right when the last bell rang, Alex jumped out of her seat and ran out the school. She dropped her skateboard quickly, yet gently, as to not break it, on the ground, and kicked her right foot, increasing the speed. She went to go find Max. She decided she would just pick him up today, not have him ride the bus.

"Maxie!" she waved her hand above the crowd, squealing his name. She could spot her little brother anywhere in a crowd.

"Alex?" he asked, bewildered, yet excited.

"C'mon. You're not riding the bus today. I'm taking you home. But, do you wanna rent a video game first?" she asked.

"Sure! Wait, no. Alex, don't. It's coming out of your allowance. I don't wanna. It's your money." he said, worriedly. Alex smiled, and hugged him with one arm. "It's okay, Maxie. I don't care. You're my little brother, and I love you. Money doesn't matter to me." she said.

"Really?" he asked, sarcastically.

"Okay. It does. But seriously, I haven't treated you to something in a while. I figured I need to get you something to take your mind off of things. I'm hangin' out with Nate today. And I might sleep over." she said.

"Like the old days, you mean?" he asked.

"mmhmm." she answered.

"Cool. When are you gonna tell him, Alex?" he asked.

Alex furrowed her eyebrows together. "What are you talking about, Max?" she asked.

"When are you gonna tell Nate you love him?" he asked.

"Pfft! Pssh, maybe renting a video game's a bad idea. It's gotten to your head. I am _not _in love with Nate Grey. He's my best friend!" she said.

"C'mon, Alex. I can tell. You can't lie to me. You haven't acted like this with any of your other boyfriends. Everyone knows. It's obvious. Mom and Dad know. Mitchie and Shane know. Heck, everyone—my teachers, classmates, lunch ladies, janitors, proctors—at my school knows. Even our neighbors we don't know, they can tell too. I've heard around the neighborhood, Alex." he answered.

Alex kept quiet and blushed. She smiled.

"So when _are _you planning to tell him?" Max asked again.

Alex's smile faded.

"I don't know, Max. I don't know if I'm ever planning to tell him. Maybe I'll learn to move on, and we can live our happily ever afters separately, the way I guess it's destined to be." she said.

Max frowned. He couldn't argue with her that there was the last option.

_Or maybe he'll realize how much he loves you. _Max thought about saying that to her. But it would only end up with Alex Russo: a damsel in distress who's helplessly in love with her best friend, in tears.

For what seemed forever to take, the two finally arrived home, and Alex greeted Max goodbye before walking back out and walked to the Greys'.

xoxoxoxoxo

She knocked on the wide, antique-style, double door three times. The door opened, but Alex didn't know who had opened it, she didn't have enough time to check since she heard a little 8-year old running to her.

"ALEX!!" Little Frankie yelled, and jumped onto Alex.

"Whoa! Ha ha, Hi Frankster!" she said to him. She let him down and kissed his forehead. He blushed, smiled, and walked away. Alex heard the door shut behind her. She turned around to see Nate's hand on the doorknob.

"Hmm, I think my little bro has a crush on you." he joked.

Alex smiled, giggled, and softly punched Nate on his arm.

Frankie came running back in, and told Alex, "Allie. You're pretty." She smiled and said, "Aww thank you Frankie. You're not so bad yourself." and she ruffled his hair.

"Sorry, Frank. She's taken." Nate said, and put his arm around her shoulder as he grinned sheepishly.

Alex turned to Nate with her arms folded across her chest, giving him a confused look.

"What? By who?" Frankie asked, curiously.

"By me." Nate said, in a matter-of-factly way. Alex chuckled at Nate, but kept silent; she needed to keep her cool. After all, there was a reason that she never admitted her feelings to him all these years.

_I wonder why he's doing this...Does he really mean it?_

"But, you're dating Millie."Frankie said, confused. Alex covered her mouth to keep from laughing out loud—Frankie must have disliked her too, considering he couldn't even pronounce Miley's name correctly—Nate definitely wouldn't like it if Alex laughed at that.

Once she gained back control, Alex turned to Nate again, giving him a look that said, "Now what are you gonna say?" and smiled at him, challenging him.

Nate was caught there. He just smiled and chuckled at Frankie. "It's Miley. Anyways, I was just kidding you, Frank. We're just friends, right Alex?" he said, still laying his arm around her shoulder, and smiled at her. Both he and Frankie waited for her reply.

"Yeah. Best of friends." she smiled back. Anyone who knew about Alex's feelings for Nate, they'd know she was pretending to be happy right now. They'd know that that was the fakest smile in the history of fake smiles. But to Nate, it was just a regular smile. He was pretty used to it by now. Alex always pretended to be happy for him, so she always fake-smiled. The word 'friends' hurt Alex every single damn time. But she couldn't change that. She could, if she wanted to, but she loved the man so much, she wouldn't want to be the one who'd hurt him, or forced him to like her. Even if it meant that she'd have to be the one who was hurting. She'd have to sacrifice her own happiness for his.

"Hi Alex, darling." Mrs. Grey smiled at the two friends walking into the living room together, their hips joined.

"Hi Denise." She smiled back.

"Mom, we're gonna go through the garage." Nate said to his mom.

"At this hour? It's already eleven o' clock." she said, worried.

"Don't worry, mom, we have our phones. And can Alex sleep over?" Nate asked.

"Sure, son. Alex is always welcome in this house," she smiled at Alex.

"Thanks mom." he said.

"Thank you, Denise." Alex said.  
"No problem, hun." she replied. "Don't have too much fun, kids. You still have a curfew." she said, smiling.

Nate blushed, and Alex grinned and giggled. "We promise, mom. C'mon, Alex." he pulled her by the waist slightly behind him, leading her into the garage. Alex looked back one last time before the door shut her view away. She looked at Denise, and smiled happily. This time it wasn't a fake smile that she'd been using for such a long time now. It was a real genuine, heartfelt smile. Denise could tell. She smiled back, and winked at Alex. Denise was giddy for Alex; _finally,_ Nate had set aside his time for _just _he and Alex.

Nate opened the garage, and climbed onto his bike. They biked over to Alex's house, which was just a few feet away. Denise closed the garage for them. Nate waited outside patiently, until Alex came out of her garage, with her duffel bag, riding her skateboard. They dropped off her stuff at his house, and began to start riding on the streets. They began to race, but eventually got tired, and both decided to walk. Alex carried her skateboard in one arm, with her other hand in her left pocket. Nate was wheeling his bike alongside her.

"So, anything new in love town?" Alex asked, smiling. She was still interested in having a conversation with him.

"Not much. But..I don't know, Alex. There's just something different about her. Like, there's just something about her that I love that isn't what like most of the girls I've dated are." Nate never could talk like this with anyone else. He always had his serious conversations with just Alex. She truly understood him the most.

"Hmm," she said, and raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like you're getting pretty serious, huh?" she said, in a curious tone.

Nate shrugged his shoulders. "I guess. But then, it kinda bugs me how she's always yelling and complaining, yet I love it about her." he said, in a dreamy tone. Alex snapped her fingers in front of him, realizing he stopped and froze in place. "Dude! Snap out of it!" she said.

"Right!" He blinked, as if to catch up with the present. "So, what about you, Alex? I heard you're getting pretty close with that Newt guy." he said, raising an eyebrow.

Alex cracked up. "HIM!?! Ha! He has a girlfriend! I can't believe people would actually think I was dating him. He's not my type. Actually, his girlfriend, well, it's his true love." she said, smiling softly.

"Oh. My bad. That's cool, that he found his true love." he said.

"Yeah." she smiled.

They arrived at the park and laid out a blanket on the grass. They always carried a blanket with them whenever they went walking. They always ended up at a park, some they knew, some were new. They stared up at the stars.

"So...you really haven't been doin' much lately?" he asked.

"I don't know, I guess." she said.

"You haven't had a boyfriend in a while either." he said.

"Not interested." she said, and thought _'Cause I've always loved you._

"Really?" he said.

"Yeah, most of the guys at our school are kind of idiots. All they care about is how hot a girl looks. I don't want a boyfriend like that." she said.

"Oh." he said. He started feeling guilty, that Alex didn't want a boyfriend, yet she was always lonely. And he truly couldn't feel that, he always liked a new girl after his last relationship was broken up. And also because he wasn't single at the moment, so he wouldn't understand.

Suddenly, rain started to fall. Nate picked up Alex by the waist and lifted her into the rain.

Alex giggled. "Nate, put me down!"

"No thanks." he said.  
She laughed again, "Nate, please! Put! Me! Down!"

"Fine, fine." he smiled.

"Thank you." she said as she was finally on the ground. She then stole a paper sticking out of his pocket and ran away with it.

"Alex! Give me that back!" he said, chasing after her. She ran behind a tree, trying to get some cover to read the paper before the rain smeared the ink. Unfortunately, Nate caught her before she got a chance to read it.

"Alex, give me it back." he said, holding his hand out.

"Um...nope." she said, and smiled. She started running, but Nate grabbed her waist. He threw her over his shoulder, and sat her on a park bench. He started to tickle her.

"Give me my paper back!" he said, smiling.

She giggled. "No!"

"Give it!" he said.

"Nope!" she giggled again. He lifted her into the air again, and asked one more time, "Give it back to me!" he said.

"Not if you put me down first!" she said.

He did as she said.

She handed it back to him. He smiled, took a seat beside her and said, "Thank you."

She smiled. She wrinkled her nose a little while smiling, and punched him softly in the arm.

"You're a meanie." she smiled.

"I'm sorry." he put a puppy dog face on. He placed his arms around her, pulling her in to his chest. He looked like he was covering her up, shielding her from the rain. He piggy-back carried her over to a big tree.

Alex jumped off his back, and looked at the tree bark. An engraving that read, _N+A Forever _inside a heart was carved into it. She traced her fingers over it, and grinned. Her voice cracked a little as she said, "It's still here."

Nate was confused, but grinned when he saw the picture. "Yeah. That's good. A little memory of us as little kids." he said. She smiled at him, and turned back to the carving.

Suddenly, a familiar song started to play.

"_I am finding out, that maybe I was wrong.." _

Alex's eyes widened as she recognized the song, and began to tear up. "You still remember this song?" she said.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I? It's our song." he said. He gestured to the speaker he brought, playing the music. He probably kept the disc that the song was recorded on, in good shape. It was recorded about five years ago. A tear dropped from her eye, and Nate noticed. He wiped his thumb across the underneath her eye.

"Don't cry, my butterfly." he said, and pecked her lips. Alex smiled at his sentence. He was always pretty cheesy, but it always cheered her up.

"It's a tear of joy, Nate. Honestly, I...I didn't think you'd still remember..all of this, th-the engraving, and our song." she looked up at him.

"Don't you ever think I'd forget, Alex. I promised you I would never forget. And I never have so far." he grinned at her.

He held out his hand and bowed, signaling that he was asking her to dance. She giggled and took his hand. She then moved her arms around his neck, and he placed his hands on her waist.

"Thank you, Nate. For everything." she said.

"Don't mention it." He kissed her forehead. "Now, let's stop talking and just listen and dance to the music."

"Okay. But can I say one thing first?" she asked, smiling up at him.

"And what's that?" he smiled back at her.

"I love you." She said.

"I love you too." he said, placing another peck on her lips, and he completely wrapped his arms around her as she laid her head on his shoulder, and held his shoulders with her hands. The rain started to slow down. She closed her eyes, and somehow, when the song stopped, Nate found her asleep on his shoulders. _Apparently it's her lullaby as well._ Nate thought. He looked at his watch, seeing that it was already 11:45PM. Only because they wanted to see the stars at night.

He carried her over to the tree, where all their stuff was left. He brought a bag just in case he needed something to carry everything. He stuffed the speaker in it, the blanket, and Alex's skateboard at the top, tightening the bag, and leaving the skateboard sticking out of it. He gently woke up Alex, telling her to stand behind him on the metal thing in the middle of the back wheel of his bike. He placed one string on each handle, and placed the bag on his lap. Alex wrapped her arms around his neck, laying herself onto his back as he biked home. They were used to this position—Alex always rode on the back, she always got tired after a moment at the park. He walked through the door, closing the garage, and greeted his two elder brothers goodnight. He ran up the stairs, placing the bag on the floor. He slowly laid Alex on his bed, grabbed some new clothes, changed inside the bathroom, changed, brushed his teeth, and walked back into his room. He found her bag, grabbed his old shirt that was now hers, and her sweat pants. He walked over to her, and shook her shoulder gently.

"Alex? Allie..." he said.

"Mmm?" she said, half-asleep, half-awake.

"Go change and brush your teeth really quick. Just real quick, and you can go back to sleep." he said.

"Mmhmm." she said. She got up, walked into the bathroom, did what Nate ordered her to, and walked back. Nate watched her when she walked back in, making sure she wouldn't stumble or trip on her way to his bed. She laid down on the end by the wall. Nate then lay beside her, covered the bothof them with his thick blanket, and turned off the lamp on his bedside table. He wrapped his left arm around her, and pulled her closer. She turned around, and buried her face in his chest. Alex was happier than she'd ever been in a long time. Maybe this was the beginning of the end of her heartache.

* * *

**So what'd you guys think this time??? I love this chapter!! Just 'cause I love reading about Nate and Alex's relationship, and how they have little intimate moments, and when they hang out, it makes me smile, and my heart starts warming up. R&R please!**


	6. Ice Cold Pain

**Lalala. so...stupid laptop loses connection to the internet a lot lately. so.. if I can't upload, then that's the reason why. I'm writing this on the laptop.. haha good thing I don't need the internet to write. So here's chapter five... by the way, I've already planned out everything, and...turns out the story's gonna continue until chapter 12. But I MIGHT do a sequel for you guys if I can come up with another plot. Maybe also following a song if you guys want. So, yep, Well, I'll finish this first, and then I'll ask about the sequel. Oh, and this one has more "language" in it. I don't really curse/cuss (idk which one it is), so, haha, the cussing/cursing part may sound weird. **

Chapter 6:Ice Cold Pain

_And you've got a smile that can light up this whole town;_

_I haven't seen it in a while since she brought you down._

_You say you're fine, I know you better than that._

_Hey, whatcha doin' with a girl like that?_

* * *

Alex woke up Saturday morning next to Nate. She smiled, watching him breathe peacefully and evenly, snoring slightly. She chuckled, then checked the clock on his headboard and saw that it was 9 AM.

"Nate!" she said as she shook him slightly to wake him up.

"Hmm? W-Miles, not now. I wanna sleep." he mumbled. She gagged, trying to hold in a baby barf. How could he possibly think Alex was Miley? _God..Out of all the people he knows...Miley?? What the hell? Seriously, __Miley__?_

Alex was hurt for a second, as the thought that Miley was the first person in the world to him, the first person he thought of, the first person he dreams of-came into mind. She shook her head and shut her eyes tight to shove the thought away. Today, she couldn't cry. Today, she couldn't hurt. Today was just another day where Alex was hanging out with one of her favorite families-the Grays.

"Nate, it's Lex. Wake up, it's your mom's birthday." she said.

"Oh, holy shit!" once he heard 'mom's birthday' he woke up right away. He jumped out of his bed—making Alex frown. She loved the feeling of his touch—and stood there, staring at Alex. He rubbed the back of his neck, and Alex could tell he was probably in deep shit.

"What?" She asked.

"I'm in deep shit." he replied. Yep. Reader, you might recall that in this story a few chapters back, it mentions that Alex knew Nate like the back of her hand. Well, that was definitely true. It was almost like she was a psychic when it came to Nate... Anyways, back to the story.

"oh, come on, Nate. I mean, it's not like you forgot to buy her a present or forgot it was her birthday or something." she said, smiling and joking.

Nate looked at her and stopped rubbing his neck. He looked worried.

"You're kidding me, right?" she said.

Nate looked ashamed in himself, and shook his head 'no.' Alex sighed. Nate paced back and forth in the room.

Alex became annoyed, and dizzy from all his pacing. "Okay, Nate, chill!" she said.

"How am I supposed to chill, Als? I forgot my own mother's birthday. This is the woman who gave birth to me. This is-" he said frantically, and was almost..hyperventilating.

"-the woman who gave you life. Yes, I know Nate. Just...calm down! I'll help you out, okay?" she said, trying to calm him down. She smiled once he stopped pacing and began to breathe more evenly now.

"How are you gonna help me?" he asked.

"I'll share my present with you. Just put your name on the tag." She said as she smiled warmly at him.

Nate frowned a little—this confused Alex.

He sat down on his bed beside her. "I..I can't let you do that, Lex. It's my own fault that I forgot." he said, guiltily.

Alex placed her hands on his shoulders to comfort him. "Nate. It's ok. We're best friends. You have my back, I have yours. It was an accident, Nate. I'm not saying it was small, or it's not important, but..."

Nate hugged her abruptly. "Thank you so much, Allie! I love you for this. I knew you'd help me." he said.

Alex smiled and lifted her head to kiss his cheek. She then stood up.

"Well, we better get up already. I'm gonna go use the bathroom." she said,

"Okay, too much info, Als.. I didn't need to know you were gonna check yourself out. Just like I do when you're not looking." he said jokingly.

"Jeez! Perv!" she laughed as she punched him in the arm and went to the bathroom to freshen up and look presentable for the day. Nate laughed and watched her walk away, then began to make his bed.

When Alex came back in, Nate said that breakfast was ready. They walked downstairs and greeted Denise.

-----

"Happy Birthday!" they said cheerfully. They were standing side-by-side.

"Here you go, mom." Nate said, handing her their present for him.

"Oh, kids. I love it! Did you guys both pitch in just to buy this for me? I love it so much!" she said, admiring the 14-carat stone on her ring.

Nate exhaled deeply, relieved that his mom didn't try to question either of them on why they'd shared a gift.

----------

About an hour later, the whole Gray family-along with Alex-were getting ready and dressing up to go out. The Gray men all had something planned for Denise. It wasn't very big, but it at least showed they'd cared.

"Nate, come on! We have a reservation! You should know, you were one of the people who marked it! And we still have to pick up Mitch! I swear, you're the only guy I know who takes half an hour to pick out an outfit." Alex said, scolding Nate for taking so long.

"Sorry, Al. But it takes time to look this good." He said, popping his collar.

Alex giggled. "Mmhmm, sure." she stole a short glance at him, and boy..did he look good. He looked, handsome, hot, sexy...Alex caught herself, waking up from la-la land, and pulled his wrist to the Grays' SUV.

Soon enough, they all arrived at a restaurant. They were all dressed formally, since it was a formal restaurant. Nate was wearing leather shoes, tux pants, a white suit shirt, and a black tie. Alex was wearing a red strapless dress, and some black flats. Her wavy hair was let down loosely. She smiled at Denise, making sure she was feeling special today. Eventually, they all found a table, well tables, lined and scooted next to each other. Shane and Mitchie's table was set next to Nate and Alex's table. Jason and Frankie were set right next to Shane and Mitchie's. But all the guests and friends for Denise's birthday were all across the whole row. Everyone ordered their food, and were now waiting for their food. Nate, for some reason, couldn't take his eyes off of Alex. Mitchie had noticed this, and leaned to her right to whisper to Alex. "Alex! _Perfect _outfit! My gosh, I swear, Nate can't stop staring at you. I'm thinking your look today is working! _Eeep!_"

Alex giggled at Mitchie and blushed. "No Mitch. Probably not. He's probably thinking of Miley and is blushing from his memories. Plus, I don't want to get my hopes up too much for today. I can't cry today. Today's a happy and special day for Denise. No drama." she whispered to Mitchie.

Mitchie simply nodded at her. Alex turned back, seeing that what Mitchie said was true. Nate _was _staring at her..and he wouldn't stop. He began to smile.

"What? Is there something on my face?" She said, and raised her hand to find what Nate was staring at. Nate chuckled and pulled her hand down.

"No, Allie. It's just...you look..so beautiful today." he said, smiling. Alex began to blush and then grinned widely at him.

"Thanks, Nate." she said to him.

He nodded, smiled, and then turned his head to the waiter serving their food. Soon enough, everyone began to dine on righ, delicious-tasting food. Not to mention pricey.

After everyone had finished eating, all had decided to stay a little to chat, mostly the adults. Alex's parents couldn't come, because they were both working. Max was with her Grandma, who'd wanted to spend some time with him, and to comfort him from the stress of his parents. Alex, Nate, Shane, Mitchie, and Jason were all conversing, and Alex had to turn around to find a waiter to get a refill for her drink. But then she spotted a woman, with her dress exposing her chest area, kissing a man roughly. She was disgusted, but she knew they weren't teenagers, so they didn't need permission to make out like that. Yet, it was still..inappropriate and rude when in a public and high-class restaurant like this. It definitely made the girl look like a slut. But Alex figured they were probably only kissing so roughly because they loved each other so much. Alex was about to turn away, when the woman pulled away and turned out to be....Theresa.

Alex froze in place. All she'd wanted to do when she turned around was to find a waiter or a waitress. Anything to get a refill. She wasn't expecting to think that this slut...was her own _mother_. Alex felt as if she was just smacked in the face. She felt as if she was tossed outside of a train, and left on the tracks in the middle of nowhere, to starve, to die, to suffer, to hurt. How could her own mother do that to her father? How could she do that to Max? How could she do that to Alex, her own daughter? Her own mother was the person who taught her how to find your true love, and to never give up on them. Theresa was the one who taught her that you are supposed to fight for love, to do anything to keep it alive. However, Theresa also said that Jerry was her true love. And how could she run away from that? How could she try to influence her own daughter to believe what she said, when she couldn't try hard enough to show it herself?

Alex turned back to the others, shutting her eyes, hoping that whatever she just saw a moment ago was not true. Her teeth grinded against each other as she asked out loud, "Can you guys please do me a favor?"  
"Sure." Nate, Shane, Mitchie, and Jason replied.

"Is that my..._mom _behind me? With a man? Who's _not _my dad?" she asked, her eyes still shut, and her teeth still grinded together.

"Shit! It is!" they all replied.

Alex nodded, still wishing that all this didn't happen. She couldn't take being happy right now, today. Even if she vowed she wouldn't, it was finally the right time to cry. Her heart wouldn't let her stop from crying right now.

Alex got up and walked over to Denise. She cleared her throat before saying, "Denise? I'm-I'm sorry, but I have to go. Please excuse me. Have a wonderful birthday the rest of today." she said, quickly smiling, then beginning to walk away quickly.

Denise stopped her and grabbed her arm. "Honey, what is it? I can't be happy if you're not happy. Tell me, sweetie. What's bugging you?" she asked, earnestly.

Small tears that were forming in Alex's eyes were beginning to fall. She inhaled deeply before answering. "Ask....." she raised a finger to point at her mom, "_her._" She shut her eyes, shaking her head in disappointment, and began to power-walk out of the building. Denise didn't have enough time to stop Alex, for she speed-walked too fast out of there. She turned her head to where Alex had pointed, and found Theresa kissing a man whom Denise had no clue was. Denise was upset, disappointed, and ashamed at Theresa for this. Theresa is, well, _was _her best friend, and was upset why Theresa couldn't tell her about this. They always told each other what was going on. And she was more hurt by the fact that Theresa pretended she was at work, and decided to ditch her so-called best friend on her birthday on a day where she really wasn't going to work.

Nate stood up, eying his mom for permission to leave. "Excuse me, everyone." He said, and ran after Alex.

Once Nate was outside, he called after her. "Alex! Lexie!" He waited and waited for her for fifteen more minutes. By then, he was very impatient.

"ALEXANDRA MARGARITA RUSSO! COME OUT OF HIDING NOW! OTHERWISE, IF I HAVE TO, I WILL DRAG YOU OUT MYSELF!" he shouted, impatiently.

He heard loud sobbing coming from...above him? He looked around him, seeing Alex's flats on the grass underneath a tree. He then looked up up and found a tree branch, and the leaves were rustling. He climbed up the tree, and found Alex there, crying her eyes out.

"Shh, shh. I'm sorry Lex." It turns out he just made her crying worse, but he just lost his temper. He handed her his sweater jacket that he brought, just in case.

She sniffled, wiping her nose with the arm of the jacket. "Why are you sorry?" she said, and smiled.

He smiled back. He didn't care if her snot was on his jacket, he just cared if she was okay. After all, he loved her. He really did. But he wasn't _in love _with her. Unlike her.

He wiped her tears with his thumb.

" 'Cause I care about you, Lex. I know you must be heartbroken, betrayed, total respect for your trust was lost, crushed. And as your best friend, like you said, ' You have my back, I have yours.' " he said, smiling.

"Thanks, Nate. You always know exactly what to say." she said, and she wrapped his jacket around her.  
"You still cold?" he asked. She shuddered, signaling that as a yes, so he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her head to his chest.

She smiled in satisfaction.

"Better?" he asked.

She nodded, and smiled. "Yes."

And they stayed up there, watching the stars until they had to go home.

---------

"Good night, Nate." Alex said, smiling. They were standing on her front doorstep. Alex was carrying her duffel bag and skateboard, and Nate walked her home from his place once they arrived back from the restaurant.

"Good night, Allie. I love you." he said, grinning, and then kissed her forehead as he hugged her tight once more.

"Love you too, Nate." She turned around, unlocking her front door. She stepped in, and smiled once more at Nate as he watched her walk in. Nate was very protective of Alex.

Alex smiled to herself once she shut the door_. Best day ever..._

Or so she thought.

----------

The next morning, Alex woke up when she heard yelling coming from next door. She groaned, grabbing her pillows and stuffing her face with them as to cut off the sound from entering her ears, but it wouldn't work. She could still hear a loud shriek from outside her window.

_What the hell?? Oh god, it's coming from Nate's room. He and Miley better not be...doing it in there. That would probably ruin my appetite for a century. _

Alex irritably swung her legs over her bed and stood up. She dragged her feet as she walked to the window, and opened her eyes more widely. She was still adjusting to the sudden brightness. There she saw what she thought she'd never see...Miley and Nate.._fighting_. Alex thought they were the perfect, happy-go-lucky couple that never fought.

Alex found herself smiling. She was happy about this, something inside of her felt like she'd been waiting for this moment all along. Because a fight could lead up to a breakup. And then Alex wouldn't have a problem admitting the truth to Nate. But then there's always the guilty side. A fight could lead to a breakup, and would definitely lead up to a heartbroken Nate. And Alex knew that would probably hurt even more--she hurts whenever he's hurt.

Alex nosiness, and curiosity got the best of her, as she then got into a relaxed position by her window. It was a bay window. She laid there with her feet laid out, her ankles crossed, and her arms folded across her chest as she watched in silence of what was happening.

"Nate, I'm tired of you and Alex always hanging out! I'm your girlfriend!" Miley shouted.

"Miles, chill! Alex is my best friend, it's not like I'm gonna move away from you! I promise I'll hang out with you more! Alex just needs me right now!" Nate said to her.

Alex began to sit up, cross-legged.

"And why is that?" Miley asked, still aggravated.

_Nate...please don't tell her, please don't tell her. _Alex shut her eyes tight and crossed her fingers as she thought this.

Nate sighed. "I can't tell you."

Miley scofffed. "And that just proves how she's more important than I am." Miley said, hurt.

"Well, what do you expect, Miles? We've been best friends since...well, forever. I love her, but I'm not in love with her. Miley, sweetie, _you're _my girlfriend." he said, wrapping his arms around her waist, as she looked away from him, in the opposite direction of his window.

Alex stood up, holding onto the curtains. She was nervous that they might see her.

Over the last summer, Alex found she was very good at lip-reading. She was practically an expert. So she knew what Nate had just said, regretting then that she'd never improved in learning how to lip-read. Then she wouldn't understand what he said. She wouldn't be able to make out his voice actually speaking those words. And she also began to regret why she'd ever fallen in love with him. All along, she knew right then that it all lead to one thing for her, and only her. Pain.

"So, you promise we'll have more..'Niley' time?" Miley said.

"Yes, I swear with all my heart." Nate said, as he held her chin and kissed her passionately.

Alex then blast on "That's What You Get" on her radio, wanting to blur out all memory of what she'd just seen.

_Dammit, Miley! You're living my dream. You have everything I've ever wanted. _And that everything was just Nate.

Without knowing it, Alex's attention was all focused on Nate. She pulled out her journal. She stared and stared towards him as all her emotion poured out in her head and onto her diary.

_Why can't you see, Nate? I can love you more than Miley or anyone else has ever loved you. I can listen to you for hours and remember every single word you say. I can watch sports with you and actually care about it, and respect your opinions, not like Miley. She wears short skirts and high heels, I wear T-shirts and sneakers. She's cheer captain, I'm on the bleachers, just dreaming about the day when you'll love me back and realize I've always been here this whole time. I love rocking out and jumping around. Like you do. She likes ballroom and classical and bubblegum pop music. I love alternative, hip-hop, country pop, pop, and rock music, like the one I'm listening to now. I know everything that's happened to you, your whole life story. She'll never know get it. And sure, she may know it now, because you may have told her, but she'll never know how heartbroken you were when you found out about your diabetes,or how upset you were when you almost had to move away from us. Because I was there to experience it with you. I'm the one who walks beside you and your worn-out jeans on our secret beach. I feel like that's how it ought to be. I'm the one who's always there for you when you cry, you said so yourself that night you drove to my house in the middle of the night-even if I live right beside you-that I make you laugh. I'm the one who knows your favorite songs and I remember all the dreams you tell me. Have you ever thought, just maybe, you belong with me? If only you knew,Nate, Miley's the luckiest girl in the world. But why?You may ask? Well,she's lucky because she has you._

She rapidly flung her diary across the room, and closed the curtains and gripped them tightly as she slowly sobbed and slid slowly down to the floor. She ended up sitting down, hugging her legs and placed her head on her knees and cried hysterically. No one could hear her. No one would understand her. And the most important and saddest part of it all..nobody could ever help her, make her happier than anything in the world, make her feel loved, or make her feel like she had a reason to be on Earth at all, except for one:Nate.

----------

The next day, Alex woke up with her eyes sore, puffy, and red. She cried for 12 hours yesterday. She would stop for five minutes, remember what she cried about, thought it was stupid, and ended up crying again. _That's what you get when you let your heart win..._

_-----_

At lunch, Alex found Nick sitting at the lunch table, while Miley was with her crew. Alex went to confront him.

"Nate, you ok?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He fake-smiled.

Alex smirked, knowing he was hurt, and that maybe it was because of the fight yesterday.

_No, you're not. I know you better than that, Nate. What are you doing with a girl like her?_

Alex thought. She didn't want a fight, so she didn't continue to question him. She was hurt even more than Nate was. Seeing him like this killed her.

She turned and watched Miley from afar. _Damn Miley. She's so lucky..and she doesn't even know it. She has the perfect man in her life, in her hands, and she's so oblivious to that. Why can't you see, Nate? I'm the one for you._

She then sighed deeply and watched Nate sulking, his head in his arms. He hadn't touched his food. _She's so lucky..._

* * *

**AHH! This chapter had a lot of parts from my one-shot. I might cry! :( But hopefully, you guys weren't shocked. Maybe you noticed by now that my writing is kind of dramatic. Or maybe a lot..lolz. Include in your review if you cried, or am on the verge of tears, or even were just sad, or something! Hehe. I just love reading your guys' reviews. They make my day. :) **

**so..R&R then, please! :D**


	7. Realize

**Ok, I've been on a _huge_ writer's block this whole week. Somehow I managed to write a whole chapter [finally]. This chapter is...ehh. I don't think there's enough drama. Like I usually put in. Lol. In this chapter, Nate's finally come to his senses. Not about realizing Alex is "the one" but that he's been a really bad, so called 'best friend' lately. So yes, there are some Nalex moments. I'm gonna say all my author's notes here. I wanna leave the last sentence plugged into your mind, and not for you to be sidetracked by another note of mine. Enjoy!!!**

**OH! And I JUST found out, there is now an official music video for You Belong With Me. GO GO Check it out!! I am always near crying whenever I listen to it, see the video, or think about the plot. It's such a good story. Here's the link::**

**.com/watch?v=FTaPVlyEQc8&fmt=18**

**and I know the website's not gonna show up. so type in youtube and then add that link ^. OR go to youtube, and type in/search for ****0916nickjonas**** and she has the video there. **

**[I wrote this part ^ when I uploaded this chapter. But now Taylor Swift actually posted the music vid, so yeah... ;) both hers and this person's ^ are really, really good quality.]**

**SECRET for pretty much ANY Youtube vid. Here's how you add HQ. Type in &fmt=18 at the end of the url. :)**

* * *

Chapter 7:Realize

_She wears high heels, _

_I wear sneakers._

_She's cheer captain, _

_and I'm on the bleachers;_

_dreamin' 'bout the day when you wake up and find,_

_that what you're-_

_lookin' for, has been here the whole time._

_----------_

_If you could see that I'm the one who understands you_

_Been here all along, so why can't you-_

_See? You belong with me..._

_**You belong with me.**_

* * *

Yes, it was another school day. For some reason, Alex was dreading this whole week the most. She couldn't explain it, but she just did. She got ready for school, looking into the mirror. Just as she did so, she immediately regretted it. Because there, she found a picture of her, Nate, and Miley. Nate was in the middle, Miley on his side, resting her head on the nape of his neck, while clutching his hand tightly. Alex was on his opposite side, simply holding his hand and smiling brightly towards the camera lens. And then she noticed that Nate's left hand was firmly tightened around Miley's waist, pulling her closer to himself as he did so. Alex then found the edge of another picture, a polaroid pitcture. She was kind of into photography. She took out the picture that was tucked into her mirror, hiding. At first, she couldn't remember why she hid it in the first place. But then she realized why once she saw Miley and Nate, turned away from the camera, Miley and Nate staring at each other with..love. That one word, it had killed Alex just as much as anything else when it came to Nate. Just because she knew she'd never be as happy with anyone else but Nate. Because she knew she'd always and forever be, in love with Nathaniel Gerald Gray.

She suddenly noticed that the picture had some sort of dust on it. Then she remembered that she had forced herself to take a picture of Nate and Miley, as a couple. Being Nate's best friend, Alex was expected to support him and Miley. And Miley and her were kind of..friends? Sure, friends. She studied the picture. Miley was in her cheer outfit, her shirt was exposing, yet Nate probably didn't care. He knew that Miley was all his. And he was all hers. What Alex noticed, was more suprising, and hurtful. Nate was very perverted around Miley, when she was in her cheer outfit, but this time he wasn't staring at her chest. He was staring into her eyes. To Alex, they were....sparkling. _Sparkling..._she thought. His eyes were shining so bright, and Alex could tell why. Nate really, truly cared for Miley. He looked like...like he was in love. With Miley. Alex abruptly shook the thoughts away, and dropped the picture as it dropped on her vanity counter. She closed her eyes, and gripped the edge of the counter, breathing in-and-out slowly. She stood there for five minutes, while running her hands through her hair, trying to calm herself. And she realized she was sweating. She stood up, and wiped the sweat off her forehead with a mini towel she grabbed out of the linen closet in her room. And then she was off.

Once again, she dropped Max off at school and was on her way to school.

When she got there, she realized why she was dreading this day so much. Miley was back from her family thing, and was wearing her cheer uniform. She only wore her cheer uniform during school days if there was a football game.

_Oh yeah, today's the football game. Damn it! I love football..yet it kills me every time because Miley's there. Great, now I have to come support them again, and hurt myself even more. Why can't I just say no? That's it, just say no. Make up an excu-_

"Hi Alex!" Miley said.

Alex was once again woken up by Miley's perkiness, and had to blink twice before snapping back to reality and ready to reply. "Hi..Miley."

"So, Alex, you know what today is, right!?!"Miley asked cheerfully again.

"Yep, football game." she said, smiling.

"HEADS UP!!! ALLIE!!!"

Alex turned around to find a football being flung at her. She immediately caught it, and threw the ball down to the ground while jumping up in the air. "And TOUCHDOWN! Alex Russo, from Dallas, Texas!" she yelled. She then high-fived Shane, and some of the guys from the school's football team.

"Great catch, Als." He said, ruffling her hair. Shane acted like her older brother-in Alex's mind, he kind of was. Mitchie was following not too far behind, smiling with joy as she always did. If there was someone that Alex coud look for to cheer her up once more, it was Mitchie. Even just by Mitchie's smile, Alex began to smile too. A heartfelt smile.

"Hey, don't touch my hair." she said, smiling.

"Sorry, but if you want it to look like...this" He said, flipping his hair, as if he were a model. "Then you need to shake it up! Make it...WILD!" he said.

Alex stared at him, smiling. "You've been hanging out at the clubs too much, huh?" she said, joking.

"Pfft! Pssh!" he said.

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Fine! Yes, yes I do." he admitted. He then clasped his hands together, and dropped on his knees to the ground. "Just please, please don't tell my mom!" he said.

Alex laughed, seeing how he looked like he was begging for food. "Shane, hun, people are staring." Mitchi said, tugging at his shirt.

"Ha! I was just kidding, Shane." he then got up, looking like he was trying to be cool.

"Ahem..I, I knew that." he said, nonchalantly.

"Sure ya did." she said.

Shane stuck his tongue out at her, and ruffled her hair again. This time, Alex stuck her tongue out at him. "Meanie."

"Anyways..." Mitchie said. "You guys excited for the game today?" she asked, glancing at Alex.

"Well, duh!" Miley said, perkily.

Everyone glanced at her. Miley felt awkward. She felt out of place. It was too quiet, and Shane, Mitchie, Alex, and even some of the football team were just staring at her. She chuckled nervously, and Alex spoke up, to end the awkward silence.

"Really, Mitch? Seriously, it's me." She said, smiling.

Shane chuckled. "Yeah, Mitch. C'mon, it's Alex. She's up for any sport." he said, grinning at both Mitchie and Alex.

"Yeah, stupid me. haha!" Mitchie said, smiling.

xoxoxoxo

The whole day was just...boring. In homeroom, all Alex could think about was 'Niley'. Good thing they sat in the back and that at least Mitchie was here, otherwise Alex would've even tried to fall asleep just to blur out their whole lovey-dovey crap. Too bad Shane is a senior instead of a sophomore like his friends.

"Alex? Alex? Alex!" Mitch shook her to wake her up from her momentary trance.

"What? What, is homeroom period done _already_?" she asked, shocked. And dreading the moment when the bell for the end of homeroom/beginning of second period rang.

"No....but Ms. Marinovich just asked you if you'd want her tickets to the competition comin' up this Saturday at the skate park. The Alex Russo that _I_ know would _never_ pass up an offer like that. C'mon, Alex! Tell me what's bugging you."

"It's....I don't know, I guess...have you noticed how Nate acts around Miley?" she asked.

"Nate?? Yeah...all lovey-dovey, and all goo-goo ga-ga around her. Like he always is with his other girlfriends. Why?" Mitchie said.

Alex opened up her mouth to respond, but then the bell for 2nd period to start rang. She had to leave; they only had four miutes of passing periods, and her switch class was halfway across campus from where she was right now.

"Forget it. I'll just tell you later." she said, picking her stuff up off her desk, and quickly stuffing it kind of neatly, into her bag.

Mitchie was still unconvinced.  
"No, tell me now." she said, worriedly.

"Mitch, I'll tell you later. Okay? Look, I made a promise when I was 8 that I would not keep any secrets from my best friends, so that includes you! I have to go, I only have...." she paused to check the clock; "well, _now, _I only have 3 minutes to get to class." she said.

"Fine. But remember, you promised. Don't you dare try or think about breaking it again." she said, pointing at her accusingly.

Alex hugged Mitch tightly to reassure her that she was fine. She then raised her eyebrows in a confused manner. "Again? I never broke it once."

Mitchie simply raised her eyebrows too, and began to walk away.

"Hey, Mitch! Wait." She pulled her back by her arm to make her stay. "What do you mean _again_?" she asked once more.

Mitchie replied in a mocking tone, "I'll tell you later. Okay?"

Alex rolled her eyes and relaxed, then headed towards 2nd period.

xoxoxoxo

Once again, 2nd period was also boring. And it was also much more painful. In this class, 'Niley' sat in the back as well, and Alex at the front. What made it more uncomfortable, was that Alex lost her other consoling friend, Mitchie. Alex was used to the whole seating arrangement, and how their schedules coincidentally would hurt Alex just as much as a baby would cry if it's bottle were snatched away. In conclusion, 2nd period sucked. Unfortunately, Alex didn't have Mitchie with her in this period to console her. Also, today, the class was changing seats. Alex only moved one vertical row to the right, and one seat down. Today the class was also taking a Science test, and Science was Alex's worst subject. During the whole period, Alex focused her eyes on the test, and gripped her fingers tightly around her mechanical pencil. Even while staring down at her test, she still felt the need to barf. Miley and Nate were right in front of her, making kissy faces, and flirting, right before her eyes. Really, it was disgusting. Alex could tell that Nate was turned on by Miley, and Miley was always trying to make herself too attractive, exposing herself too much, so this all just made her nauseous. And hurt inside.

The second the bell rang, Alex's prayers were answered. A wave of relief washed over her, and she quickly got up, handed her test in, and walked swiftly out of the classroom. P.E. was now next..but, we'll skip that part, and get to the end of the day.

xoxoxo

After the sixth period bell rang, Alex felt someone pulling her by her elbow. "Alex!" they called.

Alex instinctively turned around, and whacked the person in the stomach. "Nate? Gosh, I'm so sorry." she said, worriedly. She rubbed his arms to try to comfort him and also, in a way, say sorry.

Nate's voice came out gruff. "I'm fine, I'm fine," he said as he clutched his stomach. He cleared his throat before speaking again. "Hey, you gonna come? Miley wants our support again. Today's a cheer tournament as well, apparently." he asked.

"Um..." she took a while, consulting in her mind if she should just ditch or not. "Uh, yeah. Sure, I'll go." she decided. She didn't want to have to put up with Miley's whining and all of her nonstop questions the next day.

"Cool. C'mon, then." he gestured his hand to signify for her to follow him. She realized he was leading her to his car. He just got to his side of the car, and hopped in.

Alex was hurt once again. She suddenly had a thought come into mind. Usually, he would open her door, and hold her by the waist to make sure she was safe. And now, ever since he was with Miley, he didn't do that anymore. He would do that with his other girlfriends, and dump them for Alex. So why, all of a sudden, he wouldn't try to be her best friend anymore? Now, in Alex's mind, they were just friends.

Alex hauled her backpack into the backseat and sat in the front passenger seat. She put on her seatbelt, and spoke up. "Uh, wait. Can you just...drive me to Max's school first? I gotta tell him I'm comin' home a little late."

Nate nodded, and turned right. Alex stepped out of the car. She waited by the big old oak tree for five minutes, and the bell rang. The tree was where she usually waited for him. Another five minutes, she waited, and she saw Max's tiny mop head hair shining in the distance.

"Alex!!!" he came running to her. He hugged her tightly. Alex saw a huge grin plastered on his face, and she couldn't help but smile too. She then started to lead him to Nate's car. "C'mon, Nate's driving. I'm gonna drop you off at Justin's place, kay?"

Max nodded happily. Alex smiled in relief, knowing that dropping him off at Alfred's place instead of their own place was safer. Justin was like Alex and Max's brother, except he was their cousin.

"Hey, Maxie." Nate said, as he saw Max climb into the backseat. Max looked into the rearview mirror, and smiled into it, seeing Nate look at him from the mirror.

"Hey, Nate."

"So...how's school been?" he asked.

Alex chuckled. Out of all the questions he could have asked, he picked that one. Seriously, it was like a parent's question. And as far as Alex knew, Nate was no parent. But Alex had a feeling, that with his and Miley's relationship, maybe it would come to that when they were all older.

"Pretty good." he said.

Alex smiled, and turned around to face him. "How's it goin' with Jeanette?" she asked.

Max blushed deep. "Pretty good..." he replied, trying to keep his cool.

Nate was confused. _Who's Jeanette? _It had been a while since Nate had hung out with the both of them, so he was just...lost.

Alex glanced at Nate and saw his confused look. "Jeannette is this girl that Max has a crush on. I swear, she looks soo good with Max. I've met her a few times, and she's really sweet. I keep wishin' Max here good luck." she said, trying to stop his confusion.

"Oh." he said.

Alex asked Nate, "You think you could probably help him out, Nate?"

"Uh.......Sure, why not?" he said, and smiled at Max through the mirror once more. "So what's your relationship like with this girl?" Nate asked.

"Uh, we're friends. Pretty close, I guess. We pretty much talk, text, and IM everyday." he replied.

"And when did you meet her?" Nate asked.

"At the beginning of the school year." he replied.

"Nice. So, you guys are pretty close friends. Like, best friends, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess." he said.

"Well, from what I've learned, once you're friends with someone, that's all you'll ever be." Alex said.

Max tensed up. He never meant to let Alex think about her own relationship. He wanted to stop the car right then, drag her out, and hug her, asking her not to cry.

On the other hand, Nate had no clue why Alex looked so sad, and why Max looked so concerned. He thought that Alex's statement was just a simple one. But by the looks of it, there was a true meaning behind it. Through the whole ride, Nate started feeling guilt, and the feeling of missing someone dearly. He began to wish he'd never meant to leave Alex behind whenever he's with Miley. He began to feel like he should've started hanging out with her again, or never had changed it. He'd began to feel and wish a whole lot of things at the moment.

Now it was Alex's turn to be confused. She analyzed, seeing that Nate's hands were firm on the driving wheel-his veins and knuckles were popping out-and his face looked stern.

"Nate, you okay?" she asked, putting her hand on his shoulder.

Nate blinked twice before loosening up, and responding. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Thanks, Alex." he said, lowering his head a little to softly kiss her hand to assure her that he truly was fine.

"Okay..." she said, pulling her hand back softly. She turned her head to the window, to pretend she was concerned. Deep down, she still was a little, but that feeling was overpowered by joy. Her face was flushed in red, and a big, goofy grin was shown. It had been a while since Nate had given her one of their special, friendly kiss.

"We're here." Nate declared. He rested his chin, staring straight. He waited as Alex and Max got out of the car. Alex kissed Max on the cheek, and walked him to the front door, where she explained everything to Justin, and then walked slowly back to Nate's car, waving at Max.

"Okay, we can go to the game now." she said. She turned to stare out the side window. She felt a warm presence, and glanced at her hand to see Nate's hand on top of hers.

"Nate, you okay?" She said, worried once more.

"Yeah. It's nothing, it's nothing." He slowly and gently slipped his hand out from underneath hers, and gripped the wheel again.

"Nate, please. You know you can fool anyone else in the world, but you can't fool me." She said, smirking.

He stayed silent, but Alex could see he was easing up a bit.

She bit her lip, hesitating. "N-Nate...please, please tell me. What's wrong? Please, the suspense is bugging me, you have no idea." she pleaded.

He tightened up a bit, sped up, and suddenly stopped by a sidewalk. Alex hung on to her seat, frightened. She breathed heavily, scared, yet relieved that they were safe.

"Am I really that bad?" he mumbled, but Alex couldn't hear it.

"W-what?" she asked.

"Am I really that bad?" he asked, looking into her eyes earnestly.

Alex blinked, confused. "Bad? Bad at what?" she asked.

Nate inhaled deeply, shutting his eyes tightly. He wouldn't speak for five minutes, and it bugged Alex.

"Nate?"

"Am I really that bad!?! Am I really that bad of a friend to you!?!" he blew up.

"Nate? Nate, you're scaring me." she said, almost speechless at first.

He sighed deeply. "I'm sorry..just, please, answer my question. Please."

She gulped. "No, no you're not, Nate. I mean it." No she didn't mean it. She was lying through her teeth. But, what kind of a friend would she be if she told him the truth straightforward?

"Alex, that's a lie. I mean, I saw you earlier, when you said 'Well, from what I've learned, once you're friends with someone, that's all you'll ever be.' I could tell something was wrong, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I was so confused, and....I know, in my past I'd never felt so confused in my life about you. And..I know it's me. I know, it's me who's leaving the other behind, it's me who's making the other feel uncomfortable, it's me who's confused, it's me who's the bad friend." he said.

Alex was shocked. Had he finally realized everything. Had he finally seen the light? Does he love her in the way she loves him too?

"I, um....I don't..know what to say." she blinked, and sat motionless, staring straight.

"You don't have to say anything, 'cause I think I've said everything that's true." he said.

"Yeah...uh, we better...keep driving." she said.

xoxoxo

"Hey, Al. Hey Nate." Mitchie and Shane said as they came over to greet them. "What took you guys so long to get here?" Mitchie asked.

Mitchie winked at Alex, and Alex blushed. Shane smiled as well. Shane and Mitch saw Alex and Nate's hands...being held by each other's. Like it used to be.  
"Uh..." Alex hesitated, looking at Nate for help.

"We, I guess we just kind of...caught up." he said.

Alex turned back to a very confused Mitchie and Shane, and nodded.

"We better go, I already see Miley waving for us." Alex added.

Nate saw Miley, and immediately let go of Alex's hand.

A full two hours passed, and the game finally ended. The whole time, Alex sat there, by herself. Nate was always rushing to Miley in every intermission. Shane and Mitchie were too busy, well, being so in love with each other. That's one thing that made Alex smile though. She knew that they'd always be just, fantastic.

After the game ended, though, Nate and Miley didn't leave just yet. Alex decided to stay, all her friends were still staying anyways. Shane and Mitch couldn't leave yet. The car that Nate used was Shane's, and Shane was Nate's ride home. Nate and Miley began to fully and passionately make out in the center of the field. Shane and Mitchie observed Alex, watching her gripping the bench tightly, and she was...trembling. After 10 minutes of trying, Alex lost all her tolerance, and let go. She began to rush away from the scene. She'd wanted to leave. She wanted to leave _now. _She wanted to leave to go anywhere from there. Anytime from then. Shane immediately jumped off the bleachers, and ran to catch up with her.

"Allie...C'mon, it's not like you'd never seen them make out before." he said, grabbing her by her elbow as her back was turned to him.

She turned around, tears pouring out. "Shane, look....I know, it's a simple make out session. But that's just it. Don't you know how much it hurts? I mean, everytime I see them touch, hold each other's hands, have _some _type of chemistry together, it hurts. It breaks my heart, Shane."

"He'll know that it's you, _you're _the one he wants. I swear, he will. It just..takes time. But Allie, Mitch and I are your friends. It hurts us too to see you so depressed. I mean, we'd never seen you this hurt with Nate's relationships." he said.

"Well, don't you see it? God, am I the only one who sees it? Damn it, Shane. Something's different about Nate too. When he's with Miley. I don't know why, but....something, I don't know what, but something is different about him. He's different with Miley, Shane."

"Well, of course he is. Miley's his girlfriend. I mean, it's not like Nate kisses all of us like that, but I bet you'd like that." He said, grinning and joking.

Alex glared at him, her tears lessening a little.

"Not the time, Shane." Mitchie said as she whacked the back of his head.

"I'm serious. Look, look at Nate right now." Alex pointed at Nate and Miley.

Shane and Mitch turned around to see Nate holding Miley by her waist, very, very close to his own body. Nothing, not even air, could seperate them, or even fit in between them. He began to stroke her hair as well. "Okay, they're making out. So what? That happens everyday." he said, not noticing that what he said made her wince.

"So? Have you ever seen him kiss his other girlfriends like that, Shane?" she asked.

Shane looked at her, seeing the obvious pain and heartache in her eyes. He was pretty speechless, partly because he saw Alex was about to cry, and mainly because he knew that she was right. "I....uh.."

Alex cut him off. "Forget it." She said, putting her hand up.

"Just...forget it." she said, turning away from all signs of Nate and Miley, professing their love to each other, as she walked away silently to her home.

It's easier said than done. To forget something like that. And Alex knew that. She couldn't, wouldn't ever forget how she loved, and still loves Nate for all these years. But she wasn't really planning on giving up, or forgetting. And now, she wouldn't be the only one to realize how Nate was. Even Shane knew it. Nate....was different around Miley. If anyone knew Nate for a while, they'd know. It wasn't hard to realize it, Nate had a deeper passion with Miley than anyone else he's ever dated. Alex knew, that that's what hurt her the most.

"Wait, Allie. I'm guessing you already told me what you were supposed to tell me in homeroom. So now it's my turn." Mitchie said.

Alex turned around, confused. "Tell me what?"

"How you broke your promise once already." she said.

"Okay...go on." Alex said, raising her eyebrows in interest.

"You already broke your promise." she stated.

"Yeah, I kinda got that part...I mean, _how _did I break the promise already?" She asked, rather impatient.

"I'll give you a hint..You broke it because you've been keeping a secret for four years already." she said.

Alex still was confused. Mitchie smiled, wanting Alex to figure it out on her own.


	8. Prediction

**Okay, I'm really sorry for not updating in a while. I just had a very huge writer's block. And this chapter's pretty sad. But I don't think I provided enough drama as I usually do. But it's kind of sad. And once again, R&R! I'm leaving the last line alone, without a/n from now on..to leave that "dramatic effect" there to be what it's there for. I already started writing the next chapter, btw. Just to let you all know. ;)**

**DISCLAIMER:I don't own any of the characters, none of the songs, nothing! Just the plot, and what I write in it.**

Chapter 8:

Standin' by and waitin' at your backdoor,

All this time, how could you not know?

Baby, you belong with me...

**You belong with me.**

* * *

It had been a while since Alex woke up, happy, or at least content. Every time she woke up, nowadays, she hadn't woken up with the slightest hint of happiness.

When she arrived at the school while riding her skateboard, Nate called her over from the front steps to the school entrance. He and Miley were being all 'cute' but that made Alex want to gag.

Even if they kind of grossed her out, she smiled back at the couple.

"Hey guys. What's up?" she asked.

"Not much. Just another boring day at school." Nate replied.

"But at least it's a Friday." Miley added.

"Yeah, I guess." She replied.

"So, Nate, my parents aren't at home all day until 2 in the morning. You can come over if you want." Miley said.

Alex's eyes widened, and when she saw Miley's flirtacious smile, she knew exactly what Miley was asking him. She wanted to gag.

"Um, I'm, I'm gonna...go. I'll see you guys later, I guess." she said, trying to keep her cool, and the smile on her face.

"See ya, Als." he replied, as Alex walked away. Almost immediately, she wiped off the smile on her face, and clutched her necklace. It was the necklace Nate gave to her when they were younger when they exchanged a promise. Actually, Nate returned _many_ promises that day.

xoxoxoxoxo

*_Summer break, June 2004_*

[Nate=12]

[Alex=12]

[Mitchie=12]

[Shane=14]

[Jason=15]

"And so, I super-swear from now on, I will never ever, never keep a secret from you guys ever again." Alex said, her left hand placed on her chest where her heart supposedly was, and held up her right hand as she swore.

The group of five all formed a circle, somehow holding a type of ceremony for Alex's oath. All of them pointed their toes out, so that the tips of their shoes, or toes would form the circle.

They all smiled at Alex.

"You better keep that promise, then, Allie." Jason said, ruffling her hair, then standing up from the ground, and walked away, as well as Shane and Mitchie. Nate stayed behind, still sitting in front of Alex. They placed the bottom soles of their shoes together, and hugged their knees.

"So, you really wanna keep this promise, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah. Not telling you what Brian said, well _did, _to me, it didn't turn out so well. I mean, you begged on your knees, and it killed me to see you so upset, and concerned, Natey." she said.

"Yeah, that was...that was a disaster. I mean, I understand why you kept it from me, 'cause you know it'd gross me out, but why didn't you tell me anyways? I would've beaten the guy up."he asked, curious.

"Well, I didn't think you'd be interested to hear that some guy thinks I'm hot, and...other stuff. Ugh, he's such a perv." she said.

"Like I said, I would've just beaten the crap out of him, anyways." he said, chuckling.

"Yeah, I guess I should've just told you right after he slapped my butt, huh?" she giggled.

Nate shrugged, he was too busy focusing on playing footsie with Alex.

"Oh, Lexie, I almost forgot." he said, suddenly stopping kicking Alex's feet.  
Alex asked, "Almost forgot what?"

"Well, first, close your eyes. And don't ask questions." he said. Alex did as told, but was still a little doubtful. "Should I be scared?" she asked, grinning as she kept her eyes closed, and felt a warm touch near her back and neck.

"I said no questions, Allie. Anyways, no, not unless you don't like presents. You can open your eyes now." he said, and Alex saw him kneeling in front of her, looking anxious.

She felt something laying on her chest, and looked down to see a tiny, silver heart-shaped lock pendant on a silver chain, with diamonds encrusted in the center of a smaller heart engraving.

She gasped. "Oh my gosh, Nate!! I-I can't believe you'd get me something like this, I....Man, I don't even know what to say." she said, shocked and happy.

"You could tell me if you like it or not." he said, smiling.

"Oh, well, of course I like it, _no, _I love it! How could you afford something like this?" she asked.

"It's a kind of hand-me-down through the Gray family. All the girls who were either best friends or girlfriends with, or married to the second youngest child received _that _necklace. Mom showed it to me, and told me to give it to someone I really love, and care about." he said, grinning to see how much she adored the small heirloom. "Which, obviously, is you."  
"Thanks so much, Nate." she said, engulfing him in a huge hug. He smiled back, and happily hugged her tightly.

"Your welcome, Alex. Wait, you have to open the locket. I kinda put a little note in there." he said.

Alex glanced down at the medium-sized heart, and opened it up. Inside was a little note.

_Dear Alex, _

_Since you're making this promise, then I promise the same. And I also promise more. I promise to never lie to you, steal from you, or avoid you. I promise to protect you from any dangers that may come near you if I can. But most of all, I promise, I will never hurt you for as long as I live._ _Because you know what? I love you too friggin' much. :) _

_Love, your Natey-kins :D_

She looked up, and tiny tears formed at the corner of her eyes. She was crying tears of happiness. He really did care for her. And he was willing to do anything to protect her from any harm, even if the harm came from him, himself. Nate crawled across the grass to comfort her.  
"Hey, Allie. Please don't cry, you know I can't stand it. I don't like seeing you hurt. It hurts me too much." he said, frowning.

"I'm not hurt, Nate. I'm...I'm glad. That you would do this for me. Do I really mean that much to you?" she said, looking up with such happiness in her eyes.

"Yes, yes you do, Lexie." he said, and with that, he kissed her cheek, as they sat in the happy moment of silence under the tree in the Grey's backyard.

*_End of flashback*_

xoxoxoxo

And so she kept the necklace on, all the time. She never took it off, even when in the shower, going swimming...never. She headed into a bathroom, and looked down at her tiny necklace, as she opened it up to find Nate's note. There was his promise. And suddenly, she understood just exactly how she'd broken her promise. All this time, Nate never knew that Alex loved him. She'd never had the guts to tell him straight to his face. But maybe, the time would come. And she'd have to push away-the awkwardness, possible pain, and the risk of losing the dearest and closest friend she'd had-away. Now she understood what Mitchie meant. And she smiled at the thought how Mitchie said she'd broken it once already. It was kind of funny how Mitchie said it, her eyebrows raised, and her smirking smile...

She walked out of the door, and in to the halls.

School was finally over. The last bell rang, and Alex unstrapped her board from her backpack and went to pick up Max, and then went home. She headed upstairs, and felt her phone vibrate in her right front pocket. She flipped open the screen of her SideKick, and began tor read the words that appeared on the screen.

_Hey Lex. Come over to my house around 5. Miley's still here, and I know it'd be too awkward for you. I wanna hang out with you like the old days. A little "Nalex" time. ;) Anyways, come over, we're gonna play some Rock Band, and some video games. Tonight, we're just gonna hang out like the old days. I promise you. :D See ya soon._

_Love, your Natey-Kins ;) _

(rose)

A smile appeared on her face. She soon changed into some PJ's, and flopped on her bed. She figured she could just change clothes now, 'cause by the time she got home, it'd already be time to sleep. She took out a tiny little book, that had sketches and doodles all across the cover. She picked up a pen, and began to write in it.

_[5/22/09, 2:45 P.M.]_

_Dear Diary,_

_So, here I am again. I know, the last time I wrote in you was probably...well, when I was bugged by mom and dad, and Nate wasn't really spending much time with me. Huh, I sound selfish, don't I? Well, of course you can't answer that. Well the good thing about today, is that Naterz and I are hangin' out today. Like old times, he says. I just hope he doesn't blow it. Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely happy. :D ← see? But I can't help but feel like something bad's gonna happen. Not anything drastic, but like, something between him and Miley's so suspicious, and...I don't know. But I just feel like I'm gonna cry today. And I'm crossing my fingers for that _not _to happen. Well, that's all I've gotta say. I guess I should keep writing in ya, then, huh, diary? Yeah, I'll do that, keep you updated. ;) _

xoxo,

Lexie (oh and here's a rose for ya. ;) → (rose)

She closed her book, and put it back in it's special spot. Max already knew where she always hid it, but she trusted him absolutely, it didn't matter if he read it or not. And sometimes, he was even like her diary. Except, he would talk, and actually give advice to her. He was really mature and smart for a twelve-year-old. And that's what she loved about her little brother.

She grabbed her iPod Nano, and put it on shuffle. "Oh Star" by her favorite band Paramour began to play, and she slowly drifted off to sleep.

"Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep..." the annoying sound kept growing louder and louder, as what Alex's sight had seen was darkness, slowly showed light. Then she looked to her right, and saw her clock, showing the time 6:00. _Stupid alarm clock...why'd I even set it? I don't remember setting it. _And then suddenly she remembered why exactly she set it, and recalled actually setting the alarm.  
"Shit." she said under her breath. "Dammit, I'm late." she quickly pressed the button to finally stop the annoying sound, and quickly jumped out of bed. Had she really overslept for an hour? Now, you'd think she shouldn't worry, that Nate would be okay if she was late. But then, of course, you'd be completely wrong. Whenever Nate included a (rose) in his text, it meant he also needed to say something important to her. Something that he could only tell to her in person. Something that he couldn't wait to tell her. So that also meant, that he really didn't have patience for her.

She quickly made her bed, and grabbed some video games, like Fallout, Left4Dead, all that stuff. She changed into sweats, and rushed to open her bedroom door. "Mom, Dad, Maxie!!! I'm going to Nate's house! I'm gonna sleep over there!" she called out, alerting everyone about it. But Max soon came to her. "You are?" he asked.

"Yeah. Why? Are you okay, Maxie?" she said, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But I was wondering if you could ask Frankie to pay me back my $10 that I lent him so he could impress this one girl at school by buying her lunch." he said, and shrugged.

Alex smiled, and patted his head. "I'll make sure to do that as soon as I get there."

"Good. You're gonna take the window exit, right?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'll see ya later too, Maxie. Text or call me if you need to. Bye Maxie." she said, as she began to climb out her window. There was some type of fence steps outside her window, so she had no problem climbing down.

"See ya later Allie." he said, and shut her window closed as she jumped over the Grey's fence, and headed to the front door. She rang the doorbell.

"Hey Lexie, come in." Nate said, smiling.

"Where's Frankie?" she asked.  
Nate opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted.

"I'm right here!!!" Frankie shouted out, grinning.

"Oh, by the way, Frankie, I think you have something to confess to Alex?" Nate said, grinning at him.  
"Oh...right." Frankie said, chuckling nervously. "Give _this_ to Max, please." he said, handing a ten dollar bill to Alex.

Alex smiled warmly at him, and chuckled. "I'll take care of it personally." she said, as she tried to grab it from Frankie. But he wouldn't let go.

"Frankie, let go of it." Nate said, smiling.

"Fine..." Frankie said.

Alex giggled as she saw him trudge upstairs to his room.

Nate led her to the living room with his hand protectively on his back. "Alex, didya bring the video games?"

"Yeah." she said, handing him the cases.

"Which one to play, oh which one?" Nate said.

"Uh...maybe Fallout?" she said.

"Sure." he said, and popped the disc in.

3o minutes into the game, both were laughing their heads off. Alex was terrified of this game if she was playing it herself. With Nate, it seemed better. She would crack jokes about it just to make it seem funny, and not scary.

"DUDE! They look like the Simpsons!!" she said when Nate's character began fighting against the superhuman, yellow-skinned creatures.

Nate shook his head and chuckled. "What the fuck, Als?"

"What?" she said absentmindedly.

"How about we just play another game?" he said, and popped in the disc for Rock Band.

"Yeah! I can do hard now on guitar. I'm happy enough now, I reached my goal." Alex said.

Nate smiled at her, seeing how much fun she was having. He kept playing the drums, and Alex kept playing the guitar. Nate kept admiring her. He loved how she laughed whenever she messed up, but just picked up immediately as she could. Or how she bobbed her head at the beat.

"Nate, you okay?" she chuckled.

"Yeah, why?" he asked.

"'Cause you're lane is red." she said, pointing at the screen.

"Oh, shit. Haha, sorry." he said, blushing, and turning his attention to the screen.

"Where was your attention at this whole time, then?" she chuckled.

"You.." he whispered.

Nate looked up to see if she heard it, and saw that she didn't. Alex actually heard it, and smiled at herself.

Truth is, he does know how beautiful Alex is. And he _would _go out with her, but he doesn't like her or love her in that way. He'd never thought of her that way, even up to now.

Alex turned back to the screen, and continued to play, focused on the notes coming ahead.

But then the music stopped, and the 'pause menu' came up. She turned to Nate, confused.

"What is it, did you need a pee break?" She smiled.

He smiled back. "No..just.." he looked hesitant.

Alex started to frown. She felt that the bad part of her day was soon coming. She could feel it. And why was she so sure? Because she could hear that familiar cracking sound inside of her chest.

"Just..what?" she asked.

"I, I have to tell you something, Lex." he said, sitting down on one of the couches.

Alex took a seat on the other couch, and spoke up. "What is it?"

"Well," he said uncertainly, scratching the back of his head, "I'm not sure how you're gonna take it."

"Try me." she said, smirking. Something in the back of her mind told her to not push him, to not ask or urge him to tell her. She shrugged it off at once, though.

He exhaled deeply. "Okay..Um, what would you say if I told you.." he paused.

"Told me....?" she said, waiting impatiently.

"If I told you I'm in love." he said.

She smiled, thinking it was her. But she tried not getting her hopes up too much.

"Really!?!" she said in a squeaky voice-she was anxious to find out who he was in love with.

He chuckled. "Yeah."  
"With who?" Alex asked.

"Miley." he said, grinning.

She frowned just a tiny bit, but Nate didn't notice. She grinned widely again, and engulfed him in a huge hug.

She soon felt tears coming out, and tried to control it so it wouldn't turn into a big sob.

Nate felt it on his shoulder. "Als? Why are you crying?" he asked, worried.

She pulled away. "I'm just happy for you." she said, tearing up a bit, and wearing a soft smile on her face. "You finally found the perfect girl for you." She said. But that was a lie. She didn't think Miley was the one for him. She was.

She looked for an excuse to leave; she knew she was going to burst with tears soon if she didn't.

She texted Mitchie, and told her to call her back, and yell at Alex. She picked up her phone once she saw her caller ID: Mitch.

"Hello?" Alex asked.

"Okay, Alex, why'd you text me to yell at you through the phone?" Mitchie asked, confused.  
"Sorry! It's not my fault that you never told me that they might have called!"Alex yelled, with an annoyed voice. She turned a little to see Nate's reaction, which was, concerned.

"What? Alex, if this is another one of your pranks, I swear I'm gonna-"Mitchie replied, with a warning tone in her voice.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming, I'm coming! Jeez, calm down already, Dad!" she said, pretending that it was her dad calling, and that he was very upset.

Mitchie heard the dial tone on her phone, and was very annoyed now. "Dad? What the?"

Alex then turned to a very confused and concerned Nate. "Sorry, bud, gotta go home. Dad says his boss called, and he has to go to work. He wants me to go home, so I can take care of Max."

Nate frowned a little, seeing that she was still tearing up, and he wanted her to stay a little longer so he could cheer her up. "Oh, okay. I'll see ya later, then, Lex." he said, then grabbed her arm, leaning in to give one of their best friend kiss/peck on her lips.

Instead, she turned her head, so he ended up kissing her cheek. "I really gotta go." She said, picking up all her video games, and cellphones, and heading to the door.  
"Okay." he said, walking her to the door.

Frankie came running down the stairs. "Allie, why do you have to go? It's only 9. You always sleep over." he said with a frown.

Alex chuckled softly at him, and ruffled his hair. "I'm sorry, Frankster. I have to go." she whispered softly.  
"Is it about Nate? He told you, huh?" he asked her.  
Alex frowned, and nodded at him.  
"Don't worry, Allie. He's gonna know he loves you soon enough. I can feel it." he said, grinning at her, and wanting her to be happy.

She smiled at him, and he hugged her tightly as a few tears fell out. How come Frankie could even see how much she loved Nate? "Bye Frankie." she said, and kissed him on the cheek. "Tell Shane and Jason I said 'Bye' too, okay?" she said.

"Okay, Allie. Bye." he said.

Frankie locked the door, and headed to the staircase.  
Nate was confused. He accidentally spoke out loud. "Hmmph. Sure, she's willing to kiss you, and not me."

Frankie heard him, and turned around, shrugging. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'd trade the amount of kisses I get from her with how many you get."

"Why would you do that?" Nate asked.  
"'Cause whoever gets one of her kisses are really lucky. Which would make you the luckiest man alive." he said, smiling as he walked upstairs. **[awww!!]**

xoxoxoxoxo

Alex walked out into the cold, and rushed over to Mitchie's house, which was on the other side of Alex's house.

She knocked on the door, and Mitchie opened it.  
"Oh hey Alex." she said, letting her step in.

"Hey Mitch." she replied, sadly.

"Okay, why'd you call me, and say stuff like "Dad!!"?" she asked, once Alex was inside.

Alex didn't reply, but simply walked upstairs into Mitchie's room. Mitch came in and locked the door behind her.

"Alex, just tell me if it was a prank already." Mitchie demanded, but then heard a faint sob.

"Alex?"she asked, walking quickly in front of Alex, and gripping her shoulders to suggest for her to look up.

"It's over, Mitch. It's over." Alex said. Tears were streaming down her face by now.

"Allie? What, what are you talking about?" she asked, concerned.

Alex gasped for air as she kept crying. "I was..I was just at Nate's house. And..do you know what he told me?" she looked up.

Mitchie could see the sadness in her eyes. "No...what is it?"

Alex began to cry even more. _Jeez..I haven't seen Alex cry like this in a really long time. Ever since her Grandmother passed away in '97. _Mitchie thought.

"Alex, what is it?" she asked once more.

"He loves her." Alex said, in a quiet whisper.

"What?" she asked, not being able to hear her very well.

"He loves her! Mitchie, Nate's in love with Miley!" she yelled frantically. She dropped to the ground, and cried her heart out.

"Oh, honey." Mitchie said, kneeling down slowly to hug her. She placed Alex's head on her shoulder, and rubbed her back for comfort.

"I..I knew it all along. Damn it, why didn't I see it coming? No, it's over...I can't believe it's over. I don't have a single fuckin' chance. I lost..I lost. I lost Nate...Miley's all his now. I knew it, he'll never love me like I do, Mitch.."she said, gasping for air in between her cries.

"Allie, sweetie, calm down. Please..He does need you, more than you'll eve know. He does love you. Can't you see that?" she said.

"What are you talking about, Mitch?"

"Remember, Chip? And, when you almost drowned? He said he thought he almost lost you. And he would've lost himself if that happened." she said.

Alex was silent for a moment. But she kept denying the real truth.

"Mitch, he may need me. I know that now. He needs me more than I need him. But can you tell me he loves me?" she said, looking up with tears pouring out.

"I...I." Mitchie said, hesitant.

"Exactly. It's sad and pathetic isn't it?" more tears poured out, and her voice began to crack. "To love someone...to keep on loving them, even if you know there's no hope."  
Her voice was completely cracked by now. "And yet, I still love him, even if today, he told me he loved someone else. And that hurt me...so, so much. And everytime I see them, it hurts me even more...Did..did you know I can actually feel my heart cracking?..Yeah..I can. The more I fall for him, Mitch, the more I'm hurting..but as much as I want to give up on him, I can't..I'm in love with him. Even if he doesn't love me like that at all." she said, sobbing deeply.

"But he does, Alex, just..just try to see that." she said, sad for Alex.

"No..No, he doesn't. Because he would've told me that he loved _me, _not Miley. So he doesn't love me. And if he did love me, he would've stopped me from leaving his house, he would've grabbed me, and turn me around...and just, just..kiss me with passion. But hey...a girl can only dream, can't she?" she said, as she pulled her knees together, and kept crying, and crying, her sadness and cracking in her heart increasing by the second. And that was that. Alex knew she'd always be in love with Nate, and she couldn't bring herself to stop that. She was in too deep now. She was done hoping that he would love her, but she wasn't done loving him, even if she knew that would just make everything worse for herself. She knew that her prediction was right. Today, her whole world crashed down on her. She wrote in her diary that she felt something bad was going to happen. But it turned out to be the start of her own personal living hell on earth. Seems like Nate broke his promise too.


	9. Relation

**Remember**** to R&R! :D Your reviews make my day. Seriously, up to only chapter 8, and I already had 62 reviews! Thank you!!! :D Well, there's not much to say today.... well, nothing happens, but there's more Nalex time in this one! :D And maybe some more tears. :) You guys probably weren't expecting this one event in this story. It's not exactly happy, but it's a good thing for Alex. You'll see what I mean. ;)**

* * *

Chapter 9: Relation

Oh, I remember you,

Drivin' to my house, in the middle of the night,

I'm the one who makes you laugh, when you know you're 'bout to cry.

And I know your favorite songs, and you tell me 'bout your dreams.

Think I know where **you belong**,

Think I know it's **with me**...

* * *

Alex spent that night at Mitchie's house. Crying all night, morning, and day. For the whole weekend that passed, she'd been so weak. She felt weak; she felt like crap. That night, she called her dad, telling him she'd be over at Mitchie's, not Nate's. And she was going to sleep over. Her dad understood. Her dad knew that Alex really, truly cared for Nate. And hearing about his love for Miley, her dad knew it would break her heart. Her dad approved of Nate; after all, Nate was pretty much considered family. Alex felt like even more crap. Her parents weren't speaking. When her dad finally found out about her mom's affair with that other man, they just kept fighting even more. And now? They weren't even speaking. Something made Alex feel like their marriage was coming to an end.

For five months, Alex couldn't bare to see Nate and Miley during lunch break. That's when they would walk around, or go to the field, and make out. She couldn't take it. Because she knew that every kiss they shared, each one was full of passion, and love. And that's what killed her. Actually knowing that he loved her, seeing them together....All of it just broke her heart piece by piece every day. And she didn't know how much longer she could take it.

By the time it was Friday again, Alex knew that it was another tradition day of theirs. "'Fun-with-ice-cream' Friday. She wanted so badly to spend the day with Nate, but she understood now, that whenever she was near him, she couldn't help but feel sad, instead of happy. He was the reason for her pain.

The bell for lunch rang.

"Hey guys.." Alex greeted, rather sadly, as she sat down to sit with Mitchie and Shane.  
"Hey Allie.." Mitchie said, worried about her.

For the next few minutes, Alex just moved her fork around amongst her spaghetti noodles, and kept quiet. She sighed deeply. All her thoughts, and flashbacks of the times Nate's words had really hurt her, they all came back to her. She felt tears coming, and she blinked to stop them from coming out. She knew wiping her eyes would just make it more obvious.

"Alex...Please speak." Mitchie begged. Alex looked up, and shrugged.

"Sorry. I...there's just a lot going through my mind." she said, then dropping her head down again.

"Isn't today supposed to be 'Fun-with-Ice-Cream Friday' today?" Shane asked. Alex nodded, still not bothering to look up.

"Yeah.."

"Oh...then you _are _still comin' over, right?" Shane asked her. Alex simply shrugged.

"Miley's probably gonna hang there the whole day." she said. Shane saw the scowl on her face.

"No, I talked to Nate this morning. He remembered."

"Doubt it.." Alex said. She still wouldn't look up.

"Alex, please, just..eat. Something? Just say something, tell us what you're thinking, feeling? Anything..please, I can't take you being this silent! You're never silent!" Mitchie begged.

"It's nothing, Mitch...." she said, standing up, and lifting her lunch tray full of uneaten food. "Go tell Nate to have fun with his 'dream girl'." she said.

"Wait.." Shane interrupted. Alex waited for him to speak up.

"Are you gonna finish that?" he said, pointing at her food.  
Alex rolled her eyes, and set the tray in front of him. She then walked away, pushing the cafeteria doors open, and stepped into the sunlight.

Mitchie smacked Shane's head.

"Oww! Mitch, what was that for!?!" he asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"You are such an idiot. Couldn't you see the look on her face? Gosh Shane, sometimes you can be so unhelpful." Mitchie said, starting to walk away.

"Nuh-uh." Shane said, putting his arm out in front of Mitchie. "You had your turn to console her on the weekend. Now it's time for Shane to try out his skills. This is my time to prove that I can, indeed, be 'helpful'." he said, and began to walk faster and catch up with Alex.

"Shane! Who's going to throw away your food?" she said, her hands on her hips. Once she didn't hear a reply she looked down at his tray, and rolled her eyes. _Urgh..I love Shane, but hopefully he won't be this lazy when we're married and live together.._Mitchie thought, smiling at the thought of them getting married in the future. She knew he was the one.

"Alex! Alex, wait up. W-w..." Shane called out. He lost his breath, and was panting. Alex saw him walking behind her, and ran. She just needed some time alone. Couldn't anyone see that?

Shane finally caught up to Alex, finding her sitting up high in one of the trees. He climbed up, and sat next to her.

Alex didn't bother to look up at all. She just stared at the football field, where she saw Nate and Miley..again. For like, probably the 47th time.

"Alex, look. You can't just keep everything bottled up inside. You have to tell _someone. _I'm sorry I can't understand all this crazy, hectic drama, or how much you must be hurting right now. I wish I could. Then we'd both be suffering together."  
"I can't, Shane..it's too complicated." she said.

"Complicated? You sure? Or..is it just too painful? Either way, you're gonna have to tell someone and let it all out sometime." he said.

She looked down, and felt a tear drop. She sighed. "fine. I'll tell you." she said.

He scooted closer, a little anxious and eager to hear the news, that was making her more bummed out than ever before. "I was right." she said.

"English?" he asked.  
She looked at him. "I was right about Nate. He _is _different with Miley." she said.

"And how are you so sure about that?" he asked.

She sniffled, and wiped her nose. But it was no use. By now, her tears were pouring out. "I knew he was different with Miley. Something..I didn't know what, but..he was..happier, brighter, with her. No other girl ever made him feel that way." she said.

"Yeah, there has been one; you." Shane added in.

"But it doesn't matter, Shane." she said.

"Yes, it does! You can't give up, Alex. He _does _love you, Allie. Just..let me talk to him." he said, and began to climb down.

Alex grabbed his arm. "Everyone keeps telling me he loves me. But if he does, then.." she was now gasping for air, in between her small whimpers. Shane began climbing back up, and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Alex, what is it? Then...what? What is it, Allie? What did he say?"

She gulped, and opened her mouth to speak. "then...why did he come to my house Friday five months ago, and tell me that..that he loves Miley?"she looked up, and into Shane's eyes. He looked back at her with a sympathetic look. "I..I'm so sorry, Allie." he said. Immediately, Alex cried in his chest.

"Alex, I'd let you cry, but..I'll take you somewhere else to let you cry. Nate's looking around, he knows it's you crying. And I don't think that it's best he come find you right now, right?" he asked.

Alex nodded. She tried holding her tears in, as Shane led her down the tree, and they walked to the school's lake area.

Shane was so disappointed in his younger brother for not seeing how much of a great girl Alex was. He just couldn't wrap his head around the fact that pretty much _everyone _thought Nate and Alex would end up together, but Nate was so oblivious to those people's opinions. Even if their opinions were the best opinions. Alex continued to deny that Nate loved her. She was sick of hearing it; obviously no one else saw the way Nate looked into Miley's eyes. And Shane almost gave up in believing it, too. But when he saw Nate searching for Alex; he could see the concern in Nate's eyes. He knew Nate couldn't live without Alex. He admitted it himself. Shane smiled. Because if there's one thing he knew for sure about love, it's that love isn't about who you live with. It's about who you can't live without.

* * *

Around 5th period, Mitchie and Alex were in Science class, and Mitchie saw, out of the corner of her eye, Alex ripping pieces of paper up.  
"Alex! What the heck are you doing?" Mitchie whispered.

"Ripping out all memory of me ever being in love with Nate."she said.

"Alex! Stop it!" Mitchie whispered, and grabbed the partially ripped pieces of paper. She scanned across it; seeing all the love quotes, and everything about love inside this journal of paper. She smiled at all of them. She decided to tape the paper up. The rest of the day, Mitchie continued to read them aloud.

"I close my eyes at night, wondering where I would be without you in my life."she read.

"Mitch?" Alex asked. They were walking home; Alex had her skateboard, but Mitchie insisted she walk with her.

"It's the way you make me laugh, when I didn't even want to smile.." she continued.

"Mitchie?" Alex said.

"'Sometimes I wish you would pay more attention to my favorite songs, because the lyrics they sing are the words I'm too afraid to say.' Oh my gosh! Alex, that one's so good! I did _not _know Nate made you this mushy." She said.

"Earth to Michelle?" Alex asked, waving her hand in front of her.

"Sometimes the person you fall for, isn't ready to catch you..." Mitchie looked up, seeing how that quote was the sad and painful quote, unlike the rest of the ones she wrote.

Alex looked down. "Uh...we're, we're here." she murmured.

Mitchie snapped the book shut. "Uh..right. I..I'm really sorry, Allie. I shouldn't have read them out loud." she said, handing the journal back to her.

"It's okay. It's not your fault that I wrote something that would make me feel painful when I read it again. That was my own fault." Alex whispered, not looking up.

"Right. I'll, I'll just see you tomorrow morning, then?" Mitchie asked.

Alex nodded, and began to walk to her house, which was on the other side of Nate's. Alex continued to look down as she walked.

Once she looked up, she saw Nate's truck parked by her house. She knew right away that something was wrong, and ran across her front lawn, her writing journal in her hand.

She grabbed her keys, and frantically unlocked the door. She frowned immediately at the sight.

There was Nate, sitting on her couch, his head buried in his hands.

"Nate?" Alex asked softly.

He looked up, and ran into her arms; not even giving her enough time to put her stuff down. He cried into her chest. Alex tried closing the door, and had to walk slowly towards her living room couch.

"Natey, what happened?"she asked.

She hugged him tightly, and rubbed his back while waiting for him to speak. She never wanted to let go. She was happy, but still upset. What could've happened that made him _this _upset?

_Oh no.._she thought. She knew the answer, but before she could speak, Nate spoke up.

"She..she broke up with me." he looked up at her, and she saw so much sorrow in his eyes.

She didn't know what to say, it seemed saying "sorry" was so overused. But she said it anyways.

"I'm so sorry, Nate." she said.

He continued to cry into her chest. She looked around for a glass of water. Once she found one, she picked it up, and handed it to Nate.

"Drink it, bud. Then explain to me _exactly _what happened." she said.

He looked up and took the glass of water, and sipped from the glass.

"She told me..she told me she loved someone else." he said. The words began to bring small tears in his eyes as he replayed the moment in his head. He began to tell Alex everything he could remember.

_--Flashback--_

"_Nate, I have to tell you something." Miley said, hesitant. _

_They were both sitting on her couch, holding hands. They were watching a movie; until Miley paused the movie to talk to him._

_Nate smiled at her warmly. "What is it, Miles?"  
"I...I think we need to..break up." she said._

_Nate frowned at her. "Why?" he said in a small whisper; trying to hold in his tears._

"_I, I think..I'm in love. With someone else." she said, and looked up nervously at him._

_Nate began to tear up. "Oh." _

_Miley felt immediately guilty. "I..I'm sorry." she said.  
"It's okay. I, um..I better go. So..I guess we're over?" he said. _

_Miley nodded silently, the guilt washing over her._

_They stood up to hug, but it felt too awkward. Nate stopped himself, and quickly waved goodbye at her, before leaving her household._

_He jumped in his car, and sped off to Alex's as he heard Miley's voice call out, "I'm sorry, Nate!"_

_--End of Flashback--_

"But..she never officially ended it?" Alex asked.

"OF COURSE SHE DID, ALEX! Why would she still want to be with me if she loves someone else? I never even got to tell her how I feel..." he said.

Alex stayed silent, nervous, and scared. After a while, he calmed down. "I'm sorry, Lex..it's just..Do you know what it feels like to love someone who doesn't love you back?" he said.

And then he burst into a sob again, burying his head into her chest once more, so he couldn't hear what Alex softly whispered. "Yeah..."her voice cracked on the words,"I know exactly how that feels." she said. She rested her chin on his head, and rubbed his back. Tears fell out of her eyes as he kept sobbing into her chest.

For the rest of that Saturday night, they stay put on her living room couch. They cried over being heartbroken. Over the same thing.

But there was one, either very minor, or very major, difference. Nate was crying because the girl he knew he loved, well, she loved someone else.

And Alex cried because the situation was pretty much out of her hands. She loved this dear boy in her arms, so, so much. But he didn't love her back. He confessed his love that just happened to be for another girl. Alex knew she couldn't change that.

But we all keep hoping that he will realize that he was never in love with Miley. But with his best friend.

Alex woke up with her head leaned on Nate's shoulder, and his head on top of hers; her arms wrapped around his torso, and his arms holding her arms. They were both sitting on her couch. Her legs were bent together, and sat on top of the couch. Nate's legs were still set on the ground. Alex stretched a tiny bit, and yawning softly, as she noticed a blanket covering them.

"Nate?" Alex said, shaking his shoulders softly. She felt like it was the day after their last "F.F.F." night.

"Hmm?" he groaned.

"Wake up, bud. It's 9 A.M." she said.

His eyes fluttered open, and he turned his head to look at Alex. "Good morning." he said, smiling.

"Good morning." she grinned.

"Wow..did we really cry that long?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I guess."

"Hey, why'd you cry?" he asked curiously.

"Nate, you're my best friend? You should know that it killed me to see you so hurt." she said.

"But..why'd you cry? You were the one who looked so hurt when you did, not me." he said, raising an eyebrow.

They were both standing up. Nate folded his arms across his chest as he looked down at Alex, his eyes narrowed towards her.

She felt kind of awkward in her position. They were standing very close to each other. She could feel his body heat. But of course, part of her loved it.

"Well, I don't know..." she mumbled.

He chuckled, and lifted her chin. "Could it be..you were jealous of Miley? And that I love her?"he smirked.

For a second, she thought he finally realized it. However, she kept her cool when she saw him smirking.

"Pfft! Pssh!" she scoffed. "In your dreams, Gray." she kept laughing, and eventually it turned into a smile. She looked down hesitatingly.

She glanced back up to see him looking at her. He caressed her cheek with his hand.

He gasped. "How'd you know?"

She chuckled. She punched his arm. "Perv!" she smiled.

"I'm a guy, I can't help it." he said.

She walked into the kitchen. She felt his hands around her waist, as he set his chin on her shoulder.  
"Well, I guess 'F.W.I.C. day" was ruined." she said. He let go of her waist. "Yeah..sorry about that."

"It's cool, Nate. Anyways," she said, clasping her hands together "what do ya want for breakfast?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Since when do _you _cook?" he said.

"Since...now! Anyways, I'm gonna cook sunny-side up eggs and some bacon. Okay? Kay." she said, and turned on the stove to start cooking.

"Hey, Alex?" he said, as he sat on the counter right next to the stove.  
"Mmhmm?" she said.

"I know it's been a while since I've asked, but..how's it going with your parents?" he asked. Immediately, Alex's smile faded.

He noticed, and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Uh..never mind. We don't have to talk about it. Sorry I brought it up." he said.

"Um..no, no it's fine. I can handle it. And besides, I should tell you. You're my best friend."

He smiled at those words. _You're my best friend. _But he didn't know those words hurt Alex.

"Well...my dad found out about my mom and her affair." she began, as she grabbed for the pan and spatula.

"And what was his reaction?" he asked.

She sighed. "Well, for a month, they just..kept fighting, like, nonstop. But now.." she said, as she poured the oil over the pan.

"Now what?" he asked.

"Now they barely even talk. I mean, it's just..awkward, ya know?" she said, as the egg began to sizzle on the pan.

He nodded.

"I mean, I just thought that instead of waiting it out, they'd..divorce. It's just..weird." she said.

"Well, maybe they just don't want to hurt you and Max even more." he said.

"Maybe..I..I don't know. You know how I feel about my mom. I thought she'd jump into the idea of being divorced with my dad." she said.

"Well, Als, as much as you don't think it's true, your mom does love you. That's why she continues to pay her share of the bills in this house, so that you and Max could keep having a home." he said.

She nodded, agreeing a little.

"That's why she calls at least once a day during her breaks to make sure you're okay." he said.

"So? Nate, all that still doesn't replace the fact that she's been having an affair behind our backs." she said. Tears were coming out.

"Alex, she does love you. Believe me." he said, wiping her tears.

"But she doesn't love us enough to at least tell us that she was dating that ass!?!" she said.

"Lex, come on, calm down. I don't want my eggs to be salty from your tears." he said, smirking.

She chuckled a little.

"Even with all that she's done, she still loves you, Alex. That's why she's still here. Otherwise, she would have been gone by now, and left you guys. But she loves you enough to stay and be able to provide the necessities for you and Max."he said.

She shook her head. "I don't believe you, Nate."

"Well, you should." he said, jumping off the counter. "Take me for example. I love you, Lex. I'm still here. I know I've been a jerk lately, and I've kinda been a bad friend, but I'm still here. I still care. I still love you and your dorkish ways after all these years." he smiled.

She smiled and nodded. "Okay now I believe you." she turned to face him, and placed her left hand on his shoulder. "And I still love you and your perverted mind, after all these years."

He smiled, and kissed her nose. "Now there's the Alex I know." he said.

She smiled back, knowing that it was times like these that made her realize why she loved this boy; why she wanted to grow old with him.

A few hours later, Nate finally decided it was time for him to go home.

He stepped outside and onto her front steps, and turned around. "Als, I'm really sorry again..about not getting to do F.W.I.C."

"And I repeat, it's fine, Nate. Today was even better." she smiled warmly at him.

"Good. I'll see you later, Lex. Love you." he said as he kissed her cheek.

"Love you too, bud." she said, and shut the door closed.

Max came downstairs to see Alex.

"You know, you almost blew your cover?" he said nonchalantly, as he plopped on the couch and began to watch some cartoons on their big screen TV.

"I..I did not, Maxie." she said.

Max gave her a look.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. But it's not like he thought something else." she said.

"I can't believe Nate keeps on believing the whole 'you're my best friend' crap." he said.

"Yeah, well..just as long as he keeps believing it." she said.

_He keeps believing it because he's so oblivious__! _Max thought; watching Alex slowly walk up the flight of stairs. Max could clearly see the look in her eyes. It was a look of sadness. A look of losing hope. A look of giving up. A look of loving someone..even if you knew you couldn't have them.

Max would trade all of that in to the day were Nate would finally pick up Alex in his arms, and twirl her around, and kiss her endlessly, no matter where they were, what was happening, or who was watching. Because the fact that they loved each other would be all that mattered. Max would trade everything happening just to see Alex's happiness.

Everyone that wanted them together are all waiting for that day to happen. Everyone, especially Alex, herself.


	10. Out of Time

**Okay, so what happens in this chapter might've been expected. And in this one, you'll finally see what she was writing in that journal. Mhmm. Oh, and Alex's dress for her performance is the one from Selena's sixteenth birthday. I think it fits 'cause the dress just stands out, which is how the actual Alex character is like. And it also mixes with Selena's style a little. In this story, if you haven't noticed, I think Alex is actually more like Selena herself. :)**

**P.S. I apologize for not updating recently.. I don't know, I guess I just needed a little break from writing.. but now I'm back in a writing mood! :) Also, has anyone heard Paramore's new single? I've been waiting for the studio version ever since May.. :P If you didn't know, they're my favorite band, and I'm pretty much like, obsessed with them. ;D**

**I guess these are some reasons why I've not been writing much:**

**I'm trying to be the first to make a Selena/Demi vid with the song "Ignorance" using Sony Vegas to upload on YT. Got too lazy from that. :p maybe I should continue it? Someone's uploaded a Demi one, but no Selena _and _Demi one.**

**I've discovered the magic of PhotoShop. :p My photos: flickr .com / photos/ xxthatswhatyougetxx/**

**This summer, I've been ultimately lazy as heck. I truly miss all my friends. I'm entering eighth grade this year, and I'm sad 'cause once high school starts, that means a big split of friends. :'( But then there's the wonders of high school! Oh joy, finals, exams, lectures...all the things that I've heard that make high school tough.**

* * *

Chapter 10: Out of Time

_Can't you see that I'm the one who understands you?_

_Been here all along, so why can't you..see?_

_You belong with me_

–

_Standin' by,_

_and waitin' at your back door_

_All this time, how could you know know, baby?_

_You belong with me,_

_**You belong with me.**_

_Today's the day. _Alex thought when she stood in front of her vanity mirror. The time for the end-of-the-year talent show had finally come around. She grabbed her writing journal, and packed it in in her tote bag/school bag. She looked around for the box out of the five ones in her room, that was labeled "Alex's Dresses". She opened it and grabbed the dress she made sure she'd placed on top of the others. Her favorite dress. Black and white striped.

She looked around to look for the dark red heels her mom gave to her, since it no longer fit her. She grabbed the dress, folding it neatly, and heels, and placed them in another bag.  
"Mom, Dad, gotta go!" She announced, giving the both of them a kiss on the cheek. They were both in the kitchen; Theresa turned all the way around from the dining table, cooking, while Jerry was sitting with his back facing Theresa, reading the morning newspaper. "Remember, 6:30!" She yelled, racing through the door, almost reaching her car, as she heard Max's voice call.

"Keys!" he shouted from the front door. He tossed them to Alex, and she jumped in her SUV, and threw her bags on the passenger seat.

She made sure the road was clear, and waved at him as she was fully backed out of the driveway, and driving on the street.

"Hey, Als, ready for the big day today?" Mitchie asked, nudging Alex's elbow as she appeared by Alex's side at their lockers.

She looked at Mitchie, her eyes wary, yet excited. She sighed lightly. "As ready as I'll ever be." She took the books she'd need for the day and put them in her bag.

"Walk with me to my house today?"Mitchie asked her, "I'm gonna make Alex look like Alexandra: Drop. Dead. Gorgeous." She said, grinning. Alex returned the grin to her.

Alex chuckled. "Thanks, Mitch."

They shut their lockers and began walking down the hall.

"So what song are you planning to sing?"Mitchie asked.

"Um..." Alex hesitated. She took in a breath and relaxed. "It's a surprise, Mitch. Sorry." she gave a small innocent smile.

"So even _I _can't hear it? How rude." Mitchie said.

Alex giggled. "Sorry Mitch. I really wanna surprise you guys."

Mitchie smiled, understanding. "Fine."

**[mmkay, skipping to lunch now...]**

* * *

Alex walked into the large cafeteria and jumped into line for the Orange Chicken meal. Alex turned around to look for Mitchie and Shane, and ended up seeing a sad Nate with his head hung low. He was in the third line; her in the 2nd. He picked up his tray, and walked away without a smile or a sound. Alex frowned. Her best bud was really taking this breakup hard.

"Ma'm? Miss Russo?" Alex turned to the window to see a young man waving his hand in front of her to grab her attention.

"Hmm?" she responded.

"Your food?" he said, pushing her lunch tray towards her slowly.

"Oh. Right. Sorry." She said, before leaving to sit with Shane and Mitchie.

"Hey guys." She said. "Where's Nate?" she asked, worried.

"He went to go sit at another table by himself. Poor guy, not even touching his food." Mitchie said, gesturing towards where Nate was seated.

Alex took a look at him. His blue shirt was buttoned wrong; his right shoe was untied. His hair looked bushier than usual.

Alex frowned, but decided to change the subject.

"So Shane, are you comin' tonight?"she asked.

"DUH! Of course. Frankie wouldn't shut up about it the whole morning. So I have all the deets stuck in my head. Where the food is, what time, yada yada." he said.

Alex smiled. "Great." She glanced at Nate again. "You think he'll come?" she said.

"Nate? Of course." Shane said.

"I don't think he remembers." she said.

"Well, what makes you say that?" Mitchie said.

"Well, look, the whole cafeteria's surrounded in talent show posters, and he's not bothering to look at them at all." she said.

Shane added, "Plus, he left the house before Frankie ever mentioned anything about it."

Alex looked at Shane, she had that hopeless look again. "I hope he comes." she said.

"He will. Trust." Mitchie said, smiling.

"So you're allowed to wear anything right?"Mitchie asked. They were already on their way home to Mitchie's place.

"Yep. I guess just this once, I'm letting you glam me up." she said.

Mitchie squealed, and quicker than she could blink, Alex and Mitchie were already in Mitchie's room.

Soon enough, they finished their homework, and then Mitchie finished her hair and makeup. Alex changed and then stepped outside of the bathroom, completely ready for the show. She stepped out, her eyes closed tight, and her fingers crossed.

"How do I look? Scary, ugly, horrible? Gah, I don't think I can do this, Mitch!" Alex said, then turning to go back in the bathroom.

"No! Alex, stop it!" Mitchie said, turning her around and leading her to her full-sized mirror. "Open your eyes. You look beautiful." Mitchie began thinking how ironic that was. She felt like the 'open your eyes' part was what she should tell Nate, and the second part was what Nate would be saying at their wedding. Yes, indeed, Mitchie always asked to be Alex's maid of honor at their wedding. No doubt about it, Nate would be the groom.

Alex's eyes fluttered open and she stared into the mirror. "I don't see much of a difference."

"You're beautiful, Alex. See? Even without the makeup, you still look _that _'s the one thing I know you and Nate have in common, you both don't realize how gorgeous you are. I just put on a little blush, that 'smoky-eye' thing I know you like, curled your hair, and some lipstick. But underneath all that, it's still the same amount of beauty." she said.

Alex turned around, smiling wide. "Thank you. Thank you..so much, Mitch."

They hugged for what seemed forever, when the door opened.

"Hello!" Frankie walked in.

Frankie's mouth dropped open. "Whoa!! Mitchie, who's the pretty and cute stranger standing in your bedroom?" he asked.

Alex and Mitchie chuckled.

"Don't you recognize me, Frankie?" Alex said.

Frankie shook his head 'no.'

Mitchie chuckled again. "That's Alex, Frankie."

Again, Frankie's mouth dropped open, but even wider, if that was even possible. "ALLIE!?!" he yelled in suprise.

Alex nodded, smiling. "Yep. It's me."

He let his jaw drop open for a moment longer, but shut it and looked at them suspiciously. "I don't believe you."

"It's me Frankie. Trust me, little guy." she said.

He gasped. It really was her; no one _but _Alex called him 'little guy'.

"YES! Nate's definitely gonna ask you out tonight." Frankie said.

Alex giggled. "You really think so, Frankie?_"_

Frankie nodded excitedly.

"Frankie, wait. Tell Shane and the others that we'll just catch up with them. I don't want to reveal Alex's beauty just yet." Mitchie said.

"Okay. Good luck Allie!!!" Frankie screamed as he ran over to Alex to hug her.

"Thanks Frankster. Now go! They'll get too impatient and come up here if you don't." She said.

Frankie nodded once more and ran fast again to head outside and jump into the car.

Alex sat down in front of Mitchie's mirror and took a good look at herself once more.

She sighed heavily. "Mitch, you really think I can do this?"

"Of course you can, hun. You told me you've been working so hard on this and that today's performance is gonna say something. Something important. If you've worked that hard for it, you need to not let it go to  
waste and show it off." she said.

She nodded. "You're right." she said. "Let's go. I think I'm ready."

Mitchie smiled. "I know you are. Time to take Nate's breath away." She grinned.

-At the school auditorium-  
Many students' acts consisted of juggling, piano, guitar playing, singing.

Alex was set up for last.

"What I think is so special for this last act, and I just needed to save her for last. You know, save the best for last. Well anyways, it's because she's dedicated this song to someone very special to her out there in this very audience. She wrote this song herself, and it just holds so much meaning in it if you listen carefully. They're simple lyrics, but the rhythm is catchy, and the song tells a story. What's interesting, is this story is this next act's own personal story. It's telling the story to that specific person. _Dear boy,_ I hope it's gonna make you notice." the school's drama teacher, Ms. Darbus, announced.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Ms. Alexandra Russo!" she shouted, gesturing to Alex coming out on stage with her guitar in hand and a drummer, violinist, and bassist behind her.

She looked out at the audience and smiled at the whole Gray family, her family, and Mitchie. She turned to Nate and looked in his eyes and grinned. He looked so down, but seeing her up on stage, looking truly beautiful, made him sit up and cheer loudly. Probably the loudest in the whole room.

"This song's dedicated to one of my very best friends. All of you know about our relationship. I hope you can give me support and maybe, he'll actually notice this time. Fingers crossed." She said, and the whole room chuckled.

Alex looked over at her guitarist, and nodded. She began playing the introduction on her guitar. She brought her lips closer to the mic.

"You're on the phone  
With your girlfriend,  
She's upset  
She's goin' off about  
Somethin' that you said  
'Cause she doesn't get your humor  
Like I do.."

Alex turned to Nate and looked at him, straight into his eyes. She remembered 'F.F.F' night, and how he made her upset. He ignored her a lot that night. For Miley.

"I'm in my room  
It's a typical Tuesday night  
I'm listening to the kind of music  
She doesn't like  
She'll never know your story  
Like I do.."

Alex closed her eyes and remembered how she had to help Nate shop for Miley's sixteenth birthday present. How Miley kept laughing at Nate, during his most hurtful memories. How he cried, and Alex cried along with him. How he ended up crying with Miley in his arms, and not her.

"But she wears short skirts  
I wear t-shirts  
She's cheer captain  
And I'm on the bleachers  
Dreamin' 'bout the day  
When you wake up and find  
That what you're looking for  
Has been here the whole time."

Alex looked at Nate, all of her heart and soul was being poured out into this song as she sang to the chorus.

"If you could see  
That I'm the one  
Who understands you  
Been here all along  
So why can't you see?  
You belong with me,  
**You belong with me."**

Walkin' the streets  
With you and your worn out jeans  
I can't help thinking  
This is how it ought to be  
Laughin' on a park bench  
Thinking to myself  
"Hey, isn't this easy?"

She looks around at the audience and smiles at the memory of her and Nate spending the day together at the park. Just them.

"And you've got a smile  
That could light up this whole town  
I haven't seen it in awhile  
Since she brought you down  
You say you're fine  
I know you better than that  
Hey whatcha doin'  
With a girl like that?"

She remembers waking up that one day, Nate's window was open. She saw Nate and Miley share a passionate kiss, and tell her he only cared about Miley. She tears up a bit. Miley was no good for Nate as Alex was. The whole audience knew that. Everyone at school knew that.

"She wears high heels  
I wear sneakers  
She's cheer captain  
I'm on the bleachers  
Dreaming about the day  
When you wake up and find  
That what you're looking for  
Has been here the whole time."

Tears began forming, and she began shaking a little as she sang. She remembered that day, when Nate was talking to Alex about how they were drifting apart. And then at the football game, Nate let go of Alex's hand and rushed to Miley. That's when she looked to Shane for comfort, and Shane knew how bad it hurt Alex to see them. When Alex cried in Shane's arms...instead of Nate's.

"If you could see  
That I'm the one  
Who understands you  
Been here all along  
So why can't you see  
**You belong with me.**"

"Standing by and  
Waiting at your backdoor  
All this time  
How could you not know  
Baby, you belong with me  
**You belong with me.**"

Her voice cracked a little as she remembered the day Nate told her he loved Miley. Someone else..rather than Alex.

"Oh, I remember  
You driving to my house  
In the middle of the night  
I'm the one who makes you laugh  
When you know you're about to cry  
And I know your favorite songs  
And you tell me about your dreams  
Think I know where **you belong**  
Think I know it's **with me.**"

Tiny tears fell out of Alex's eyes as she remembered when Nate told her about the break-up. They cried in each other's arms.

"Can't you see  
That I'm the one  
Who understands you?  
Been here all along  
So why can't you see  
**You belong with me..**"

Tears fell out even more as she thought how oblivious Nate was. And how he'd broken her heart so many times.

"Standin' by and

Waitin' at your back door,

All this time,

How could you not know

Baby, you belong with me,

**You belong with me.**"

All she wanted was for him to love her back. Was that so hard to ask?

"Have you ever thought  
Just maybe, **you belong with me?**"

By the time that the song was done, everyone applauded. She received a standing ovation. Everyone saw the passion in her voice, the heartbreak she felt. The love she felt for the person it was dedicated to.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Alex Russo." Ms. Darbus said once more into the mic. "Well bow, dear, bow!" she said. Alex obeyed, and received an even louder round of applause.

"Thank you all for attending this talent show. Our school doesn't just have spirit, but talent as well. Here they are, all the young talented, stars of the show!"she said once more, clapping along with the audience as the show ended and the curtains fell.

"Alex! Alex, oh my gosh, that was the most beautiful song I've ever heard." Mitchie came rushing up to her. She was in tears, finally getting to see how Alex truly felt. Shane went up to Alex and hugged her. Wiping her tears away.

"We definitely think he's gonna notice, and finally know." Shane said, as they walked away to find refreshments.

"Alexandra Russo, that song's about Nate isn't it?" Alex's dad asked. She simply nodded and looked down, scared of what he might say, since he didn't like it when she dated boys at her age. She was sure she was dead meat if she pretty much just confessed that she was in love with the boy.

"I'm so happy for you!" he said, hugging her with joy.

"W-what?" Alex asked, confused.

"Honey, if there's one thing your father and I actually agree about is that Nate is the ideal and perfect guy for you. It just seems like you really _do _belong together." Theresa said, smiling.

To Alex's surprise, her father was smiling in agreement. This was a sight she hadn't seen in a long while.

"I gotta give you props for putting out your true feelings out there like that, big sis." Max said.

"Thanks Maxie. Meet you and the others at the table soon." She said, and they hugged each other, her tears swelling up again.

She felt so scared about what Nate was going to say. Would he know? Would he care? Would he hurt her again and just leave her to be hopelessly in love with him? Or would he finally tell her he loves her too?

Alex looked nervously at Mr. And Mrs. Gray when she saw them walking up to her.  
"Denise, do you think it was a good idea for me to do this tonight?" She asked.

"Don't call me Denise, Alex." she said.

Alex was shocked, had she done something wrong for them to hate her?  
"Call me mom! Oh, I just know it, you're gonna end up together and get married, and I'm gonna become a grandma, and you're gonna be my daughter-in-law!" She started rambling on with joy.

Alex chuckled, relief washed over her.

"Honey, I think she just wants your response to her question. Alex, I think what you did was very brave. I admire your courage for this. I would've never had the guts to do that when I was your age." Mr. Gray said.

"Thank you sir." Alex said.

"Alex, you can call me dad too. I've known you long enough for you to do so." He gave a small wink to Alex as Denise said, "good luck, honey." before they walked away.

Alex took in a deep breath, waiting for Nate's praise. She felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Allie?" Nate said, he was looking down at his feet.

"Yeah?" Alex asked. She swore she'd never felt as nervous as she was now.

"Y-you look, beautiful tonight." He said, grinning, but his voice was soft, like _he _was also nervous.

"Thanks.." She said.

"I just..I just need to know..was that song directed towards me?" he asked.

She opened her mouth to speak, but she felt as if no words were coming out.

_Come on Alex, tell him. It's now or never._

"Actually, yes, i-it was.." Alex said.

"Oh." he said.

"_Oh?" That's all he can say?W-what does he think? Dang it, he doesn't love me.._

Alex frowned. She knew she wasn't going to get her happy ending soon.

"Um, look, Lexie..I, I just need some time to think..Don't get me wrong, the song's beautiful. And don't ever forget you're my best friend, and I _do _care about you. And I do love you."  
"Just..not in the way I love you." Alex said, looking down. Tears were falling out.

"No, Allie, no, I'm.. I'm just not sure of what I feel. Please just give me some time." he said.

Alex looked back up. "That's just it. I don't think I have the time, Nate.."

And with that, she walked away, the tears falling more and more.

Nate stood there thinking as he looked in the direction Alex that left him, _I'll make it up to you. I don't know how, Alex, but I will. I-_

His thoughts were interrupted by Miley once more. "Nate? Look, I'm sorry for hurting you, but..it's just..don't you see? It's not me you love, it's Alex."

"Miley, do you think you can help me out?"


	11. Still Waiting

**So, I'm updating again, because I figure I owe it to you guys for making you wait so long.. :p yeah, bad habit of mine: laziness. X]**

**haha I just looked at this story thingamajig on my profile, about YBWM and from the last chapter's update, the whole story has 45,000 words all together. :p whoa! Haha. I think I write too many words. :p**

**I know this chapter's shorter than usual, but I had a sort of writer's block in the end. I seriously _need _to save the shocking 'secret' for the ending. **

**Yes, the story _is_ coming to an end very soon, sad to say. But like what evershort told me, "I guess it has to end some time." Don't say I didn't warn you when it ends and you're upset.. well, actually you'll be more like, happy. :) I can assure you of that.**

**Well..yeah...**

**on to the story! :D oh, I'm done with the whole lyrics in the beginning. Now for the actual plot that I, myself have created. :) Instead of following Taylor's song guideline.**

**Peace, I'm outtt! xD **

**-Shae Shae**

**P.S. Please no hate for the ending. I know, I feel horrible for not telling you just yet, but.. I'm saving it for the final ending of the story. I want you guys to be shocked. And then cheer like this for Nate, "Nate, go get your woman! Before it's too late! HURRY UP, BOY!" :p**

**confused? Haha. I promise everything will be explained in the end. But if you want to guess, don't include your guess in your review, please. If you really wanna guess it, and spoil the shocking secret, then just private message it to me instead of including your guess in your review. Please. Don't wanna spoil the story for others, now do we? ;)**

**Again, **

**PEACE! [no seriously, for reals this time.]**

**-Shae Shae**

* * *

Chapter 11: Still Waiting

The next day, Alex isolated herself in her bedroom, the door locked. She refused to come out until she was feeling 'better.' Her parents decided she wouldn't go to school for the day. Mitchie came over, and even then, Alex still wouldn't unlock her door. Well, that is until Mitchie told her she had caramel popcorn, mozzarella sticks, and a strawberry-banana smoothie for her. Alex needed food. Sure, it was most likely heard that girls pig out whenever they're 'depressed', or 'in a mood', but hey, she was a girl. And she just had a sudden craving for food. If there was any one besides Nate that could cheer Alex up, it was Mitchie.

But even with Mitchie's help, Alex kept staying home and stayed locked inside her bedroom for two more days.

-The second day of Alex's isolation-

"Hi Theresa" Mitchie greeted when Mrs. Russo opened the door for her.

"Oh, hello Mitchie. I wasn't expecting you today." she said.

"Well, I heard about Alex. How's she holding up?" Mitchie asked.

"She still hasn't come out of her bedroom." Mrs. Russo responded.

"Still? Man, Alex is really taking this hard. Has she eaten?" Mitchie asked.

"A little, I suppose. I keep giving her a tray, one for breakfast, lunch, dinner. Every time, only a little is gone. You think you can help?" she asked, hopeful.

"Sure. I've got her favorites." Mitchie said.

"Good thinking." Mrs. Russo replied, and let her in.

"Alex? Alex, hun, please let me in. I need to know what happened the other day." Mitchie said, standing outside of Alex's room, knocking.

"I'm sorry, Mitch..I..I can't..it hurts too much to think about it." Alex said.

Mitchie felt hurt fa little, for Alex, when she heard what Alex said. "Please? We tell each other everything. No matter what, we've _never _hidden things from each other. Plus, I've got your favorites! Caramel popcorn, Mozzarella sticks, and your favorite flavored smoothie." Mitchie said.

"Strawberry-banana?" Alex asked. Her voice sounded closer and clearer.

"Yep." Mitchie replied.

"Okay.." Alex said, opening the door to let Mitchie in, then locking it afterwards.

"Here you go." Mitchie said as she handed the food and drink to Alex. She frowned a little. Alex never looked..so down. She was one of the strongest people she knew. And to see her at her lowest, it hurt Mitchie.

"Thanks, Mitch." Alex said, then plopped on her bed and continued to watch more TV.

"Okay, now spill. What did he say?" Mitchie asked.

"He said he needed time to think.." Alex replied.

"Th-that's not too bad." Mitchie said.

Alex shrugged. "Yeah, but..he kept telling me to just give him time, but he doesn't know how much it hurts to hear that. It sounded like part of him still was oblivious, and part of him still doesn't love me."

"C'mon Allie. Just-"

"-Give him time? Great..you agree with him." Alex said, frowning.

"I was going to say just have hope." Mitchie said.

"I don't know..it just seems like having hope doesn't even work for me anymore."Alex said, looking down at the popcorn. Tears, again.

Nate

At school, everyone began to question where Alex was for the following days. Teachers were worried. Alex was a top student in most of her classes.

Classmates, friends were worried as well. Some girls gossiped that "maybe Nate broke her heart, _again._"

Nate heard all the gossip. All of them about him hurting Alex. He winced every time, because his biggest fear is hurting Alex. Too bad he realized too late that he'd been doing that for pretty much most of his life already.

At lunch, Nate decided to sit with Shane and Mitchie once more.

"Um, where's Alex? I tried calling her ever since the night of the talent show, but no answer. No pick up. It kept going straight to her voice mail. Is she hurt?" Nate asked.

"What do you think? And why do you even care?" Mitchie said, out of half anger towards him.

Shane looked at her, giving her a look to not be so hard on Nate.

Mitchie mumbled, "Sorry.." but she still look a little upset at Nate.

"Don't mind her, Nate. She's just a little upset. She visited Alex, and..." Shane spoke up. He looked at Mitchie to see if he could continue. She nodded.

"What, what is it?" Nate asked, worried.

"She locked herself in her bedroom." Shane said.

"She's never done that before.." Nate said. He looked down, his eyes were getting watery. _I really hurt her..God I really screwed up this time!_

He felt anger running within him, and he got up, almost shaking the table, and slammed his food into the garbage can. Mitchie thought he looked so mad, she thought she saw his veins popping out.

Nate went to look for Miley. Miley was a good person deep down, he knew it. And somehow, she was on team 'Nalex'.

"Miley, listen, I really need your help." He asked when he finally saw her.

"Uh, sure Nate, what is it?" She said, getting up from the 'cheerleader' table.

"I need a plan to get Alex back." He said.

"Back? What do you mean, as in revenge?"Miley asked, a little disappointed that Nate would think of hurting her.

"No! Well..kind of.. I want to...how do I say this..make her happy again." Nate replied.

Miley smiled.

Nate

The next day, Alex finally came back.

"Alex, where have you been!?!" Random girls from school came running up to her and asking her, jumping up and down.

"Um...d-do I know you guys?" She asked.

The girls stopped jumping and walked away looking embarrassed.

She walked to her locker. "Strange shtuff.." She said.

"What?" Mitchie asked.

"Um..a bunch of girls just came up to me and kept shouting "OMG WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?!" and I had no freakin' clue who they were." She said.

"Well, I guess you're known for being in love with Nate." Mitchie said.

"It's been _that _obvious!?!" Alex said.

Mitchie nodded. Alex began to blush a little.

"But don't worry, everyone's on your side.. even the guys." Mitchie said.

"Wow..kind of cool to have the school's support." She said, leaning against her locker with her books in her arms.

Mitchie chuckled. She spotted Nate and Miley talking with each other at Miley's locker.

"Ugh..can you believe that jerk?" Mitchie said.

Alex looked shocked. She felt tears in her eyes coming. "I can't believe he's still talking to her..After all she's done to him. To us. She's the reason we drifted a part. She's the reason for that song I wrote." Alex said.

Mitchie saw how upset she was and hugged her. "It'll be okay, Alex. I'm sure they're just friends."

Alex nodded. She really hoped that Mitchie was right this time.

Nate

The rest of the classes, Nate kept making an effort to try to talk to Alex.

"Hey Lexie. How're you feeling? Are you okay?" He asked.

Alex held up the back cover against where he was faced, and ignored him. She rolled her eyes and felt tears come out a little. _He really is oblivious.._

Nate looked at her. Her face was covered from the book, but he finally realized how.._perfect_ she was. _Like an angel..a goddess. _He thought.

But deep down, he knew it was probably too late. He already lost part of his friendship with her. This was an example. But somehow he felt as if he was actually going to lose his best friend. Lose her, as in..physically.

That's how they would communicate for the rest of the day. The silent treatment. Nate was a little upset, but he knew he couldn't blame her. He knew even he wouldn't talk to himself for what he did to Alex.

When the lunch bell rang, Nate watched as Alex immediately shut her book and speed-walked out of the classroom. Alex sat down with Shane and Mitchie, and she spotted Nate talking to Miley, again.

"What's up with them? I thought he was trying to get over her, not go back to her." Alex said, looking down at her food.

"I don't know..Miley keeps coming over and only he and Miley stay in his room, and just...talk. It just bugs me 'cause I have no idea what they're talking about." Shane said.

"He invites Miley over?" Alex asked. Her voice sounded soft, and it even cracked a little.

"Yeah..th-that was probably a bad thing to say..." Shane said, looking down.

"No..no..I'm glad you told me. At least I know how they're relationship is..now..I guess." Alex said, unsure of her choice of words.

Mitchie rubbed Alex's back with one arm while Alex looked down during the whole free period; as Mitchie watched Nate and Miley smiling and continuously talking.

_What could they be talking about? _she thought.

Shane saw Nate glance over at their table. He saw Nate look at Alex. He saw sadness in Nate's eyes. And he could somehow tell that Nate's heart broke a little when he saw Alex.

Alex sighed.

"Guys?" Alex spoke up.

"Yeah?" they asked.

Alex opened her mouth to speak, but she didn't know what to say. _This is harder than I thought.._ She thought, when she saw how happy Shane and Mitchie were. She didn't want to ruin their happiness. But, she didn't have a choice. They needed to know.

_Now or never. You can decide to tell them now, and sure, they'll still be sad, but if you never mention it, they'll be more upset at you for at least, not telling them ahead of time. Just do it, Alex. You can tell them. _

"What is it, Alex?" Mitchie said.

"I think it's time. It's been too long that I've hid this from you." she said, her voice firm, yet a little sad.

Shane and Mitchie looked at each other, and were worried about what they would hear next. Already, they could tell it was bad news.

As soon as she told them, Mitchie started feeling tears flow down her face; and soon enough, whimpers began to come out of her mouth. Alex had to grab her and rock her back-and-forth in her arms like she was a little kid again.

Shane just kept staring straight ahead at Alex, speechless. He didn't want to believe it.

Why, out of all the times during the year, why now?


	12. Finally

**Again... I feel uber horrible for not telling you guys the 'secret.'**

**and even more horrible for what I'm about to say.  
BE PREPARED. What I'm about to say...**

**is..**

**this is the second to last chapter. **

**HOLD IT! *closes her ears* okay go.**

***You people scream and cry and gasp and whatnot***

**Sorry. My apologies. But, we all want the happy ending, don't we?**

**I'll make another chapter, but it'll be more like an epilogue. I know, I'm sad that it's ending too, This was my favorite story I've written and actually was fully committed to completing. Besides the other one I have on YouTube. **

**But, like williamswheelbarrel told me****, "I'm going to be so sad this story is going to be coming to an end but I guess all do right?" **

**And basically, she's right. :p **

**well, You'll find out the secret in this chapter. **

**WARNING: Very long chapter. :) But for this specific chapter, that's a good thing. :p**

**PEACE.**

**-Shae Shae**

**P.S. I won't disappear as a writer on here. I have other stories to complete. I'll finish up "The Friend Zone" and then I have another Nalex story in mind, similar to "I Am Legend", if any of you saw that movie. Basically, the world pretty much ends, and well....I'll post up a trailer. Don't worry, it is a love story. :p**

* * *

Chapter 12: Finally

So two weeks passed, and Nate basically avoided Alex. He was committed to making Alex smile again. Unfortunately, all it did was send Alex the wrong message. She spent every day crying in her bedroom. Shane came to visit her many times, as well as Mitchie. Mitch thought it was useless to try and help Alex. It seemed nothing she did was going to help.

Shane had to keep taking her in his arms and comfort her. He felt so pissed at Nate, his own brother. All these years, Alex kept everything bottled in, and when she finally threw it all out on the table in the open like that, all Nate could say was "I need time." He wasn't willing to fight for his best friend, to get her back. To make her truly happy once more.

But Mitchie and Shane missed going out on dates and stuff. Alex told them they could, but they were such good friends they knew that would just be the wrong-and hurtful-thing to do. So, they decided they would both just head over to Alex's place. Mitchie needed help with convincing that Nate was such an oblivious boy. Shane could help with that. And Shane needed Mitchie to help talk about her love life and such.

"Hey Alex." they both greeted as they walked through her bedroom door.

Mitchie looked around Alex's room. She sighed.

"I can't believe you're parents allowed you to stay home from school this long." Mitchie said.

"Well, we already notified the school. I'm not missing much. No big dance or school show." Alex said.

"Well, yeah, but we all miss you at school. Especially, _Nate.._" Shane said. He mumbled the word Nate-they knew it hurt her hearing his name. All her painful memories just came flooding back when she heard his name.

"Oh well then..now he knows how much it hurts for me to not be with him." Alex mumbled, chewing bits of popcorn while staring at her T.V. screen.

Shane and Mitchie gave a look to each other. It was really harder than they thought, to help Alex cope.

They needed her back though. She wasn't going to be here long. The only way she would stay was if Nate told her..he loved her.

But they felt that that was so far away from happening. But now that Nate knew the truth, it seemed so close as well.

Basically, their lives were getting more and more complicated every day.

"I'm sorry, Alex, but..look, I know he hurt you, but he does love you deep down. He just needs time to figure out." Shane said, rubbing her shoulder for her comfort.

"Great. Now you sound just like him! How much more time does he need, Shane? It's been three days that I've been gone, and he still hasn't had the guts to say "I love you."!" She said, practically screaming it in his face. Tears were streaming down her face as she did so.

Shane didn't know what to say, so Mitch decided to step in for him. "Alex, he's a mess without you. Please just come back for your remaining days here. We need you. _He_ needs you. Now more than ever." she said.

"I can't, Mitch..I told you, it hurts too much." Alex said.

"Where does it hurt?" she asked.

"Right here." Alex replied, pointing at where her heart was.

It was like they were little kids again, as Shane watched the two react. But the pain was more surreal than just a mere cut on the knee, or the lunch bully taking your lunch money.

"I've checked all his texts, his voice mails..he still hasn't said the three words I've been waiting to hear..it's all that I know could fix everything, you guys. All he says is "I need more time, please." she said. "And you both know I don't have that kind of time. I've given him practically my whole lifetime for him to figure out his feelings."

Nate

The next morning, Alex decided she _would _go to school today. She wouldn't have the kids at school thinking she was a lovesick trainwreck, depressed over..some boy. Even if that was the truth. And he wasn't just _some boy_, he was her best friend. That boy meant a lot to her.

Taking a look at herself in the mirror, she knew she looked like a mess. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying so much. Her hair was messed up. Her pajama top was even backwards. _How'd I miss that? _she thought, as she saw the tag on the front side instead of the back. Overall, she looked..._like crap._ She looked lifeless, hopeless, depressed.

Walking through the cafeteria doors - it took her a long time to decide if she would really go to school today or not - she spotted Mitchie, Shane, and _Nate. _As soon as she walked in, he looked up, with..with hope in his eyes. She could tell he really did care.

But she wanted him to suffer a little too. To see how she felt. After all, she knew faking a smile was much, much easier. She wanted to look like everything was fine, and that what had happened on the day of the Talent show had no big effect on her.

"Alex!?! Yes, you came!!" Mitchie squealed, jumping up to hug her.

Alex chuckled at Mitch. "Well, I figured I should. Today's, well..you know.." She said, not wanting to complete her sentence. They understood what she meant, anyways.

Alex and her parents already mentioned the big news to the Grays, well...except for Nate. Everyone knew that it was best he found out himself, on the last minute. Max told his friends at school.

Alex looked over at Nate, who was still staring at her. But this time, he had a sympathetic look upon his face. She didn't want his sympathy. He's the reason she was so upset while she was gone, why should he be so sad _for _her? She broke their moment when she saw Miley settle down next to him with her lunch tray.

Alex looked over again and saw them talking. But, Nate didn't have a lunch tray. Miley was trying to offer him food, stuffing an apple in his face, unsuccessfully. He shoved it away, and smiled, chuckling.

Alex sighed. It used to be her that could make him smile and laugh like that. Now, Nate was probably getting butterflies with Miley again, and she'd be just 'some girl' in his life again.

Though, she knew it wouldn't have to be like that if he returned the feelings.

She was lost in her thoughts when Shane cleared his throat, after Mitchie nudged him with her elbow.

"Uh, so Allie, Mitchie and I were wondering if you could come over today to help us with our essays? Since you don't really have to do it anymore, anyways." he asked.

"Why? Mitchie's the best writer out of all of us, you know that." She replied.

"Well, I can't take _all _the credit," she smiled, "but you know what they say, 'the more the merrier,' right?" she smiled, grinning widely.

Alex was suspicious. Shane and Mitchie were both smiling as wide and big as their mouths would let them. Something was up, alright, but she knew she'd have to help them, even if Nate would be there. Plus, she secretly wanted to see Nate. She wanted to implant the image of him in her mind and his voice, so she would never forget him. She always loved him, and always will, she knew.

"Fine." She responded.

"YAY!!" Shane yelled.

Mitchie and Alex looked at him with their eyebrow raised. All three of them ended up laughing.

Nate

Alex rang the doorbell as she waited for someone to open the door. Her notebook was in hand. She kept thinking about everything that was about to happen the next day..it was such a big change. She'd grown fond of this whole place, it was her home. Everyone there was a part of her life, and it was hard to see life without all them. Especially Nate.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the door was opened, and she saw Frankie running to hug her. "Allie!!!"

"Frankster!!" She chuckled, ruffling his hair.

"So where's Shane and-" She looked up, seeing Nate standing there. Apparently_, he_ was the one who opened the front door for her.

Frankie saved the two from their awkward moment. "Shane and Mitchie are up in the office area." Frankie replied.

She nodded, smiling at him to thank him.

Nate stood there the whole time, trying to read her. He knew her so well. She was faking a smile to hide all the pain. _The kind of smile I'd see her bare on her face whenever Miley was around.. _

_Man, I'm really stupid! _He thought, slapping his forehead angrily.

"Yes, you are." Frankie said. Nate blinked at Frankie. _Damn..Frankie must be a genius or something..or..psychic. _Nate thought.

"No, I'm neither, you're just really easy to read at times. Just like Alex. But you've been too..too stupid and oblivious to care." he said, before walking off.

"Hey guys, so what's the topic?" Alex asked, as she plopped on the couch in the room.

Shane and Mitchie were gathered around the computer desk. Mitchie was scribbling down words on her paper madly. Shane was tapping his pen against his temple, as if to look like he was putting on a thinking face.

Alex leaned up a little and saw Mitchie already writing on the fourth paper, half-down. Shane's first paper was including only one paragraph. And not even a full one. Only three sentences.

"Looks like you need some help, hairmeister." She said, grinning and resting her hand on his shoulder. Mitchie looked up for a bit and giggled. She and Mitchie used to call him that whenever he took more than thirty minutes to finish getting ready. And at the rate that Mitchie was going, she could tell Shane was still trying to think of what to write for an even longer period of time.

He chuckled too. "Yeah, I'd really appreciate it. I keep asking my own _girlfriend _for help, but she keeps telling me she might lose track of what to write."

"Sorry." Mitchie mumbled, not looking up at all. She really was concentrating.

"Well, you still haven't answered my question. What's the topic?" she said.

He looked hesitant. After a few seconds, he looked up at Alex. "Heartbreak."

Alex nodded her head. "Well, let's get to work."

"So what..is it supposed to be a short story? Or some type of poem?" she asked.

"She said whatever we want." Shane said.

She opened up her notebook and walked out of the room. She came back with Shane's acoustic guitar.

"How about a song?" She asked.

"Um, yeah, she said that was good too." he replied. He was wondering what she had in mind.

She started strumming chords and had a tune in her head. She began writing down the lyrics on her paper.

Shane started drumming a beat along to the song with his hands.

After Alex finished writing, Shane took the paper and looked it over. But the ending is what stood out to him the most.

"Hear the operator say the number's no good  
And that she had a world of chances for you  
She had a world of chances for you  
She had a world of chances  
Chances you were burning through  
Chances you were burning through  
Chances you were burning through

You've got a face for a smile, oh you know"

"Wow." was all that could come out of his mouth.

"So...do you like it or..is it..too girly or something?" She asked.

"No, no it's good. I'll turn it in tomorrow. It's surefire to win an A+, Allie. Thanks a lot." He said, grinning.

Mitchie was finally done with her paper, and happened to glance over at the door. Nate's door was open. He was laying on his bed, his head facing the ceiling. He was turned the other way around, his head was at the end were the feet were supposed to go. She saw him texting.

"Uh..now that you've finished it, Allie, do ya think you can play it for us?" She grinned. She kind of wanted to see Nate's reaction, even though she knew it would hurt him. But he _did _kind of deserve it..right?

"Um..sure, Mitch." Alex replied, nervously. She never played one of her songs in front of some other person besides Mitchie and Nate.

Again, she began strumming the intro.

"You've got a face for a smile, oh you know  
A shame you waste it when you're breaking me slowly  
But I've got a world of chances for you  
I've got a world of chances for you  
I've got a world of chances  
Chances that you're burning through

"I've got a paper and pen  
I go to write a goodbye and that's when  
I know I've got a world of chances for you  
I've got a world of chances for you  
I've got a world of chances  
Chances that you're burning through

Oh, I'm going my own way  
My faith has lost its strength again  
Oh, it's been too hard to say  
We're falling off the edge again  
We're at an end  
We're at an end"

She thought about how ironic one of the lines were: she would really be saying goodbye soon. The lines 'we're at an end' meant how her and Nate were..basically over. She'd fallen and felt helpless. But she needed to 'go her own way' whether it was being forced to or not. She needed to.

"Maybe you'll call me someday  
Hear the operator say the number's no good  
And that she had a world of chances for you  
She had a world of chances for you  
She had a world of chances  
Chances you were burning through  
Chances you were burning through  
Chances you were burning through

You've got a face for a smile, oh you know.."

she ended. It was hard for her to sing it without her mind somehow always flowing back to Nate. Very hard. She thought about the song. She _had _given him a world of chances. He ignored it all, burned through it and was completely oblivious to it all.

Mitchie glanced over again at Nate, who had stopped texting as his hands lay flat across his chest. He was blinking forcefully. Blinking out the tears.

_You do deserve it Nate. This is just so you would know how much you've hurt your best friend. _Mitchie thought.

Nate

_"Instead of just invisible.." _

Alex's phone began to vibrate a little as she read the screen.

Call from...  
_Shane_

"Hello?" Alex called into her phone.

"Alex! I was right, I got an A+ on my paper! Thank you so much, Allie, it really means a lot. You know that bumped me up a full grade?" Shane said excitedly.

She giggled. "No problem, Shane..but um, you know I've got to-" she began.

"Oh..um...right," he said, the excitement fading away, "I'll..I'll just meet you later then?" he said. He felt little tears threatening to come out of the corner of his eyes.

"Yeah. See you and the others there. Remember, 11:15 tonight." She said.

"Got it. Um..y-you-know-who asked me to ask you to bring RockyBear with you. And, your necklace. The one you-know-who gave you when you made the oath?" He said.

"Uh..um, okay. Well...I never have taken it off, no matter what. I won't take it off ever." She said.

"Good. Uh..I gotta go, Allie. You-know-who's still confused why everyone's so sad today. He's getting..pissed."

"Okay. But make sure you don't tell him. I want to be the one to tell him." she responded.

He nodded. "Got it. Bye 'lil sis." He said.

"Bye hairmeister." She said.

"Dude, can I borrow the car keys?" Nate asked.

"No can do. Mom doesn't want _any _of us to go out today. You, me, Jase, and Frankie." Shane replied.

"Why not!?!" He asked, frustrated.

"I..I can't tell you..yet." Shane said.

"Well if you can't tell me then there's no reason why I can't go out then, can I?" he asked.

Shane didn't want to fight with him any longer. He was already annoyed enough with the fact that Nate was _still _wanting to hang at Miley's today. He might've gotten so pissed that he'd spill about Alex if he decided to argue any longer.

"Fine, here." Shane said, throwing him the keys.

"Wow, that was easier than I thought." Nate said, easing up a bit.

"Yeah, yeah, you're just lucky I know how to keep a promise." Shane replied.

Nate

"Hey Miley." Nate said, as he walked through the Cyrus' front door.

"Hey Nate. So I was thinking about our plan." Miley said, hesitant.

"Okay. So what do you have in mind?" he asked.

"Well...." she said, still hesitant.

"Come on, Miles, just tell me. I really need help with this right now." He said.

"Well...tell her..tell her your true feelings. You love her." She said.

"Well, of course that's the easy way out, but...but I still don't know, Miley.. I think I still love you." he said, looking into her eyes, and hodling her hands firmnly.

"No! No, you don't, Nate! Why can't you see it? Look, at first I think I was just a little jealous of Alex, so I dated you. But all this time I could tell how much you love her. You really do, Nate. It's just...you're too..chicken to admit what you're really feeling." She said, breaking his gaze and letting his grip loose.

"No, no I love _you_, Miley." Nate said, leaning in to kiss her.

Unfortunately, it was a success.

Alex gasped, feeling small tears fall down her eyes. She heard everything. _Everything. _

A few minutes earlier, Alex headed over to the Grays' house to finally tell Nate the news. But he wasn't there.

"Sorry, Alex, honey, but he's headed over to Miley's place. I specifically told him not to, but Nate kept arguing with Shane, and well..it would've effected your whole secret." Denise said, when she opened the door.

"Um..okay. I'll, I'll just head over there, I guess," She replied, "Thank you Denise." She said, hugging her before she left.

She rang the doorbell.

"Uhh...hey, Alex. Ooh, I'm about to pull a hair prank on Miles, wanna help?" Jackson said, as he opened the door.

"Hey, Jackson. It's not that hair trick where you replace her shampoo with dye is it?" she asked.

"Noo....." he said, trying to hide the shampoo bottle behind him, "wait, why?"

She knew that it was a lame prank, since there were wigs nowadays, but she wouldn't tell him that. Miley was nice to her all this time. She didn't deserve it.

"Um..'cause it's a lame prank. I suggest you just find her um...purple..t-shirt and hide it." It was irresponsible, but not mean. Not nearly as bad as what Jackson was planning to do.

"Thanks." he said.

"Uh, is Nate here? I kind of need to tell him something.. It's really important." she asked.

"Yeah, upstairs in Miley's room. First door on your right." He said.

"Thanks." she said, then heading upstairs.

As she reached the doorknob, she heard Nate say, "No, no I love _you_, Miley."

Alex covered her mouth with her hand to silence her whimpers, as tears began streaming down her face faster than ever. It would be no use, though, as her cries would soon enough grow louder. So, she ran away as fast as she could.

"Alex? Where are you going, you just got here?" Jackson said.

But she didn't answer and just kept running. She ran out of the front door and eventually collapsed on her bed muffling her cries and keeping her door locked.

So because of that, sadly she didn't hear the rest of Nate and Miley's conversation.

Nate

Miley didn't kiss back.

"Nate, stop it! What the hell!?! _We broke up, _remember!?! Gosh you are so messed up." She said, sitting down to take a breath. She was furious at Nate at the moment.

He sighed, sitting down on a chair. "I just..I really do think I love you, Miley. I can't help it." he said.

"But I keep trying to tell you, Nate..you _don't _love _me, _you love _her._" She said. "I mean, when you kiss me, I don't think it's ever as passionate and real as what you feel with a simple kiss with Alex on the cheek, or on the forehead."

Nate shook his head. "I don't think so."

"You love her."

"I don't think so."

"When you see how hurt she is, you can't help it but to give up all your time and try to cheer her up. You love her."

"No, I don't think so."

"You have so many special traditions and insiders and memories together, it's something you share together. It's a special bond you have together. Apart of why you love her."

"But I..I don't."

"Because she just gets you. I see the way you look at her when she's sad. Or when she's happy, you smile with her too. You're there to keep her safe. Because you love her."

"I..I don't."

"And her? She cares about you so much, Nate. She knows everything about you as if you were like twins. She loves you for that."

"No she doesn't. It's just a phase."

"She always misses you. She's hurt whenever she sees you with someone else, Nate. She's the only one who can make you smile. She loves you."

He shook his head.

"She's perfect for you, Nate. I know for a fact that you can't live without her. She can't live without you. Don't tell me that's not true."

"...."

"See? And do you know what that's called, Nate? The feeling like you can't live without her? The feeling that she's your other half? The feeling that she's..your world, the air you breathe, the smile you wear? Do you know, Nate?"

"What?"

"It's love. You love her Nate. How many times do I have to tell you? You. Love. Her. It's as simple as that. "

"I..I don't."

"If you don't love her, then tell me why you're so hesitant with your answers."

He was speechless. Part of him knew Miley was right, but if he really did love Alex, he thought it would all be different.

He'd always seen her as that little girl who he would always run around in his backyard to play tag, to watch movies with, to play hide-n-go-seek with.

When they were younger teenagers, he always thought of her as the girl who thought she wouldn't be able to get a guy, or thought she would be unsuccessful in school.

Recently, he'd thought of her as just his best friend, the one he shared everything with, all the secrets, the tears, the laughs.

But he didn't understand that that was what a true relationship was about, a relationship of more than friendship. It's what brought two people together.

Nate

Once Alex unlocked her door, she sniffled and wiped her tears away with her arm.

"Mom? Dad? I think we better schedule our departure earlier than what we planned."

Nate

Nate walked in his room and slammed the door.

He buried his face in his hands. It was all too much to take. The feeling of having someone tell you you love your best friend was..was weird. He knew he could never picture her gone from his life, ever. He cared a lot about her, he knew that. He knew he did love her. But he'd never thought of it in a way of..of an intimate relationship kind of love.

He stood up from his bed. He wanted to go to Alex's and talk everything out.

"Hey, Shane I'm gonna head over to Alex's, kay? I need to tell her something." He said, as he saw Shane on the counter, eating an apple and watching TV from there.

"You're too late, dude. She's not gonna be there." Jason said, calling from the couch.

"What? Pfft, you're lying." He said, heading to Alex's.

He didn't see anything there. Everything was empty. It looked as if the house had no life in it anymore, not unless the Russos were living in it.

He rushed back to Shane and Jason.

"Dude, what happened to all the Russos' furniture? Every thing's gone." he said, panicked.

"Well aren't you smart? They're probably already on the airplane already." Jason said, frowning.

"AIRPLANE!?! W-what would they be doing on an airplane!?!" He said, upset because no one told him about this.

"FLYING. Duh. But if you even care so much, they're on their way to Mexico, where Alex's dad's old home is." Shane said, biting into his apple.

"What? Why? Why are they moving?" he asked, sad.

"If you weren't such a bad friend, you'd know by now. But no. We have to sit here and explain it to you." Jason said.

Frankie cut in, wanting it to hurt Nate with what he was about to say. "Her parents divorced. Alex's mom decided she'd move to L.A. With her step husband, and Alex, Max, and Mr. Russo are heading to Mexico."

Shane nodded. "You're supposed to be her best friend, Nate. But everyone else was there for her while _you _weren't."

Nate grabbed the car keys. "Miles? Change of plans. I need to head to the airport right now. Apparently Alex is boarding a flight." Nate spoke into his cell phone.

"What!?! No, that's gonna ruin the whole thing!! Uh, I'll meet you there." she said.

"Where are you going!?!" Shane called as Nate walked out to his car.

"To get my best friend to stay!" he said, determined. He jumped into his car.

"WAIT!" Jason said, jumping into the passenger seat, while Frankie and Shane jumped in the back.

"What!?!" he said, pissed. He needed to stop Alex as fast as possible.

"We want to come." Shane said, shrugging.

Shane texted Mitchie and his mom and dad to follow. He had a good feeling that he was going to tell her he loved her.

M: No way!! Eep finally! I'm on my way right now! Love you. :)

S: I'm serious. Ha, I know right? Hurry up. Love you too. ;)

Shane, Frankie, and Jason grinned the whole time on the way back to the airport.

As soon as they reached the airport, they all practically jumped out of the car and raced to the entrance.

"Jase, what's her flight number?" Nate asked.

"Uh, 413. Gate 6B." Jason responded, depending on his memory.

"Okay, 6B, 6B." Nate mumbled, trying to find the Gate entrance.

"There it is! Gate 6B!" He said, and they all ran to the designated area.

"Attention passengers, flight 413 to Cancun, Mexico is ready to board. Please have your tickets and passports ready at the gate entrance." a woman said over the intercom speaker.

"Hurry!" Nate called to his brothers. He watched as the door closed and he felt like he'd lost all hope.

"Attention passengers flight 431 to Leon, Mexico is ready to board. Please have your tickets and passports ready at the gate entrance." another voice announced.

"Oh, it was flight _431 _not _413_." Jason said, realizing his mistake. "It's gate 4E." He said, and they all ran again to where they knew for sure this time, was where Alex would be.

Nate was a little pissed at Jason, but he had no time to yell at him right now.

"Alex!" Nate called, seeing her about to hand the flight attendant her tickets.

She turned around, as well as Jerry and Max. She looked upset, but couldn't move.

"Um, ma'am? Your ticket, please?" The lady asked.

"Uh, excuse us, ma'am, but do you think you could hold the plane really quick?" Jerry asked.

"I'm sorry sir, but we've got a lot of other passengers, we can't delay the flight for just three of them." she said.

"Well what if that boy over there with the curly hair, yeah, what if that boy is my daughter's best friend, and she just happens to be in love with him?" He asked.

She blinked. She remembered having the same experience. And in fact, the pilot was her best friend that she loved.

"I'll go talk to the captain." She said.

"Thank you." he replied. She nodded in response.

Alex turned back around and tried giving her passport and ticket to the other woman. But the woman rejected her.

"No. You need to stay, ma'am. He's your best friend. What if he loves you back?" She asked.

She shook her head. "I'm about 99.9 percent sure that that's not what he wants to tell me." She said.

"Still. Look at him. He's almost crying. Just five minutes, at least." She asked.

Alex sighed and turned around to Nate, seeing Miley come up from behind him.

"What?" She asked, her arms folded across her chest.

"Lex, I'm sorry that I made you cry and I hurt you like that. You know I'd never do that on purpose."

"Right. Just like you're sorry you don't love me?" Alex said.

"I..look-" he began.

"Nate...I just have one thing to ask you." Miley began to ask.

Alex saw Miley, and frowned. "Um, hey Miley." She said, smiling half-heartedly.

"Hi Alex." she smiled, feeling sympathetic. "Alex, I swear I don't love him back."

"But..he still loves you." She said.

Miley thought for a bit. "Nate?" She asked, as she walked around him to Alex's side, and put her arm around Alex's shoulder.

"Yeah?" He asked, feeling nervous.

"Look at me and Alex. Who do you _really _love? And after that, don't tell me you can look me in the eyes and tell me you love me." She said.

Alex looked down a little. She was certain that Nate would say he loved Miley.

Nate looked at Miley. He thought about how she'd been bratty at times, and was completely selfish. But at the end of the day, she wasn't a bad person. She cared, and she was a good friend who always wanted to help. But right now, that's all he could see her as. A good friend.

But then there was Alex. He looked at Alex, seeing her tears fall down her cheeks. He felt a short pang in his heart. He knew it. He knew he always hurt whenever she was hurt. He cried if she did. He would smile because she would. She looked back up for a bit, and he looked into her eyes and saw all the memories they shared, in her eyes he "saw the times she hugged him and told him 'It'll be alright, bud. Everything will work out fine' when he was crying. How she'd always find a way to make him laugh and smile when he felt down. How she just understood him, how she always had his back. And up to now, she was still there supporting him every step of the way.

And so he looked in Miley's eyes, and said, "her."

Alex looked up.

"her. Miles, I love her. I really do." he said.

Miley could see the true sincerity in his eyes and heard it in his voice. She sighed, and smiled. "That's all I wanted to hear, Nate. Well, my work's done. I'll just..step to the side now." she said, then stood beside where Mitchie and Denise were now standing.

Alex didn't see how that really proved anything, though. She wanted to hear it from him. She wanted to hear him actually tell her he loves her. And then kiss her like she'd always dreamed of.

So she headed back to the gate hall.

"Lexie?" he called. She stopped in her tracks.

"Lexie, please don't go. Please don't leave me." He said. He felt tears coming out of the corner of his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Nate. I have to. It's best for the both of us." she said, even though it hurt for her to say it.

"But you can't just leave me like this. I need you Alex, please." He said. One, two, three tears.

"I'm sorry, Nate." She said, stepping into the hall.

"No, you can't!" He said, grabbing her arm.

She felt the anger rising up in her again. She turned around and felt tears pouring out of her eyes.

"Then give me one reason why I shouldn't!?!" She said, dropping her handbags and waiting for an answer.

"Because...because I can't live without you, Alex! Okay? I can't..I can't picture it for one second: you being out of my life forever, without it hurting me. I need you in my life, Lexie. And..and I know you don't need me anymore, that all I've been doing is hurting you. But I know I need you. I'd probably die without you by my side. Without knowing you're close to me everyday." his voice cracking.

"If you take those steps into that plane and I watch it fade into the distance, I'd break down and cry. I need you Lexie. You're always the one person who knows exactly what I'm talking about at all times, who knows exactly how to make me laugh even when I'm crying. You're the only person who can make me smile, ever."

Her voice cracked as she spoke. "W-what are you trying to say, Nate? That it's better I stay here and keep watching you live your happy life with another girl? With me having to marry some, some man I'd only know for about four years and _try _to be happy with him, but I'm not?"

He took a step forward and held her face in his hands. "No..no," he whispered, "What I'm trying to say is..I love you, Alex. I've realized I've never felt what I feel with you with any other girl."

She blinked at him, trying to process everything in her head. "Y-you mean it?" she asked.

He nodded. "With all of my heart."

And for the first time, they kissed. He picked her up as she wrapped her legs around his waist, and then spun her around as they kissed and wrapped their arms around each other. They pulled apart, and they smiled as Alex whispered, "Finallly."

"WHOOO!!!" Everyone cheered. Majority of the aiport passengers stopped and stared. Applause was surrounding the two.

"Finally!" Mitchie, Denise, and Miley whispered to each other, grinning and cheering along with the others.

Nate chuckled. "Have people really thought we were meant for each other for this long?"

She giggled. "Pretty much. So have I." She said, grinning.

He wrapped his arm around her waist as she wrapped hers around his shoulders and rested her head on his right shoulder. He gave her a light peck on her lips.

"So...I'm taking this as a yes that you can stay, right?" He asked.

She stopped in her tracks. "Um...Dad?" She asked.

Jerry sighed. "Well, I don't know Alex, we already booked a flight and I already told my cousins we were going to stay over there." he said, frowning because he wanted to stay. He too was always waiting for Nate and Alex to finally have their moment.

"Oh, Jerry it's okay. I'm sure you can move back in. No one's claimed it yet." She said.

"Yes, and we'll help you pay for it." Paul said, while hugging his wife.

"Well..I'm not sure. I wouldn't want it to feel like we're being a burden." he said.

"Stop worrying. Jerry, we're buds. Ever since junior high. Stay please. We want to help. It's the best for our kids." He said.

Alex looked at her dad, biting her lips. Nate looked at him too, his eyes hopeful.

"I don't see why not..my kids grew up in that house, it just..wouldn't be the same if we moved."he said, smiling at Alex.

"Thank you Daddy! I love you." She said, running into his arms, as he gave a kiss on her head, "I love you too, sweetie."

"Well, since everything's settled, we should head back and move them back in." Jason said.

Once Alex had basically everything she had with her put back in her room, she sat on the floor, and listened to her iPod.

"Hey." Nate said, walking in.

"Hey, Nate." she said.

He gave her a kiss on her forehead.

"What was that for?" She asked, grinning.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I just missed you." he said.

She grinned and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Lexie, I've been thinking.." he said.

"What is it, bud?" she asked.

"Well..first off, you don't have to call me bud anymore." he said.

"But I want to. You know," she said as she took his hand in hers, "I've realized why I fell in love with you, Nate. I can..I can be myself around you. You're my best friend, and I just..I never want that to change. Showing how much I care about you, I noticed that's how I showed that I love you." she said, smiling.

He sighed, kissing her hand. "I don't deserve you."

"Of course you do, bud," she said, taking his face in her hands. "You're the sweetest, most caring boy I know. I wouldn't want anyone else."

"No, I mean..it just, it took me this long to realize you're, you're the _perfect _girl for any guy. I've been so close to you for so long, and I never took a chance or thought of you in the way that you thought of me. Meanwhile, other guys jumped at every chance to try to get a date with you."

She smiled, feeling so in love.

"What I've been thinking about while you skipped school, was..I guess I was too afraid of saying that I really do love you. I guess I was afraid that our relationship would change and that everything would be awkward instead of us just talking casually like our friendship."he said.

"Nate, you don't have to be afraid. I fell in love with my best friend, and our friendship is something that just...brings us closer. I wouldn't change it for the world. Our friendship isn't going to change just 'cause we're dating and everything." she said.

"You always know what to say." he said. "come with me, Lex." he said, reaching out his hand.

"What are you thinking, Nathaniel?" She said. She always used his full first name when she was suspicious.

"Just..come on." he said. She shrugged and took his hand.

He led her outside and stood in the middle of the street.

She saw him take a deep breath before shouting, "I'M IN LOVE WITH MY BEST FRIEND ALEXANDRA RUSSO!!!" afterwards he looked in her eyes and grinned.

She smiled, happier than she'd ever been. "I love you too, Nate. Always have and always will." She said and grabbed his face and kissed his passionately.

She was feeling head over heels in love. Now, it wasn't just their usual 'best friend' kiss. This was the beginning of their most passionate kisses they'd ever shared with anyone. The kind of kiss they told each other they'd share with _that special someone _when they were 16.

Now, look at them. How ironic could life be?

But for Alex, her life was, like a fairytale. She'd gotten her happy ending. She'd found her special someone a long time ago. Nate didn't know his was right under his nose all along.

And now, they were inseperable. Nate fell asleep knowing that, for sure, Alex would be the one he wanted to marry and to grow old with.

How can something..something you can't see or touch, or hear or taste, be so powerful even when it moves in such mysterious ways? Well, it just finds a way and works everything out. It's..magical. It's something out of this world...It's...it's love.


End file.
